In A24's The Invite, frustrated San Francisco couple Joe (Seth Rogan) and Angela (Olivia Wilde) are caught off guard when they host a dinner party with a free-spirited couple that live upstairs. Piña (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton) reveal that they are swingers – which explains all the noise Joe’s been hearing - and what was once planned as a simple get together to show off recently-completed renovations to their apartment, turns into a much more complex and unpredictable evening.
Olivia Wilde directed the feature, adding to a resume that also includes Booksmart and
Don't Worry Darling. She recently connected with
Post to share details about her work on the project, which was shot on film over 21 days and then edited by Yorgos Mavropsaridis, the long-time collaborator of filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (
Poor Things,
Bugonia). Here, she talks about her desire to shoot on film and what she's learned as a director over the past decade.
Olivia, you shot for 21 days and the film is set in San Francisco. Where did you actually shoot?
“We were at Sunset Las Palmas stages in Los Angeles, which is a really interesting space. There's a lot of history there. It is a pink studio. It is the one people might know from the opening credits of The Player, when he's driving in through the gates.
“It also happens to be the stages where the original I Love Lucy pilot was filmed, and parts of
When Harry Met Sally, and some really great movies. I had never worked there - none of us had - and it was great because I was able to have my production office right next to the stage where we were building this set, so I got to watch (production designer) Jade Healy create this set before my eyes. And it went up extraordinarily quickly because we were an indie movie pulling this together in eight weeks. You're right! We shot on that stage for 21 days and then we popped up to San Francisco for two days on location to get some of the footage you see in the opening credits.”
How far back does your involvement go? Was it 2025 for the 2026 release?
“The project itself goes back further than that. My participation started the end of 2024, and then we shot it in 2025. But the original film that it's based on came out several years ago in Spain and that was called Sentimental in Spain, and in America, it was called The People Upstairs. As you can probably tell, it's baked into the DNA of the movie that it's based on a play, and that's kind of why it has that single-location style, and yet we really wanted to make it feel as cinematic as possible.
“I fought hard to shoot on film for all the obvious reasons. It looks better. It'll never not look better. And the experience of shooting on film completely transforms the way a film is made - the performances you get. It's very different in terms of the process. We all shot on film for so much of our careers and accepted this transition into digital, but I don't think people understand how much that changed the actual process - the vibe on-set - the energy on-set. It completely changes that, so I felt very lucky to be able to bring back the energy of film shot on 35, because it's really magical.”
There are, of course, budgetary considerations when it comes to shooting on film versus a digital format. And then there’s the pressure of getting everything right. How did that affect the process?
“It's interesting because that element of risk, I think, is why it's so exciting and why the whole thing is so magical. You don't know what you've got until you get the dailies back. The process of getting the dailies back means you're sending your film to the lab, which is a process that takes such an extreme amount of skill. There are several points during the film processing process - the development process - where the film itself could be destroyed. But the fact is, these technicians working in the labs are so good at their jobs that we take for granted that this film will be developed beautifully, and then what we receive when we watch dailies is this kind of Christmas present - this surprise, where we finally get to see what we actually shot. And that is the greatest moment because it's just it's so exciting to see that all these factors came together to produce this beautiful image. It really takes a certain amount of alchemy to actually turn out in the way that you hope.”
What lab were you working with?
“FotoKem, because they were in LA. We shot with Kodak film and Kodak was incredibly helpful. They are real partners to filmmakers. We were first going to develop at Kodak, but then we switched to FotoKem. Just in terms of process, it was easier for us.”
Adam Newport-Berra was your cinematographer and Yorgos Mavropsaridis edited the film. How were you able to get him away from his frequent partner, director Yorgos Lanthimos?
“Isn't that amazing? He had just finished Bugonia, and I spoke to him and I was so incredibly floored when he agreed to come and work with me. I really revere his work, so when he said yes, I thought, ‘Okay, this is yet another partner in this process who's going to take this in an unexpected direction.’
“His taste is singular. He has an understanding of performance and tone that I think is unlike any other editor. He also is a real actor's editor. I would argue that he has an appreciation of performance that is incredibly sensitive and patient, and he takes his time.
“For a project like this, which was so heavily based in performance, I needed an editor who would find conversations interesting, though they may be very simple in terms of the action of the characters. I wanted someone to find the dynamism in a simple conversation, and ‘Blackfish,’ as he's known, is an incredible architect of conversations.”
Where is he working? Was he close to the production, or did he come on board after shooting wrapped?
“Once we wrapped, I moved over to London, and we did all post in London. Blackfish came to London and we cut there in Soho.
“I was running in on my lunch breaks and after work to watch not only dailies, but assemblies that we were putting together. Blackfish had an assistant editor who was putting together the assembly slowly as we were filming. And Blackfish himself was kind of checking in, but it was really helpful because the way his team works is that they put in temp music and sound as they build the assembly, because he's so aware of what a difference that makes for the director to first see these scenes with a little bit of texture that comes from sound.
“I think you can misunderstand a scene to lack tension or energy if you are forgetting this extra essential layer of sound design that ultimately makes such a huge difference. I was really grateful that they went out of their way to kind of build in some sound design while we were just purely putting together a simple assembly. And then of course, once we added our score, it took on a whole other level, and that process was also just fascinating.”
There are a few interesting editing techniques that you employed. For example, the dialog coming from off-screen and the camera capturing the reaction.
“It was shot that way, and a lot of that was a result of the ample use of improvisation on-set. We really had a very kind of fluid way of approaching the scenes where I wanted everyone to feel they could improvise at any moment and that's only because we had done real rehearsals, so everyone had had a clear idea of the intention of every scene and a real sharp sense of tone that we had kind of collectively created in prep. I think once you've defined those things, then you can really let your actors be very comfortable to be free with improv. But because of that, we have all these brilliant jokes that were off camera. It wasn't like, ‘Hey, if you're off camera, can you just be quiet?!' I also think the gift of these was that they stayed alive and creative, even when off-camera, which is something that is very generous. I think people sometimes kind of focus on their shot and go a little bit half-dead when they're off-camera. I really love the use of off-camera dialog, even when it is a punchline or an essential line.”
Another technique was the use of cropping to create these sort of window frames. We that part of your plan going in?
“I would say I knew the end frame, because I put a lot of energy into creating the end frame with our crew. We wanted it to have that kind of slow push in on the window that would create the negative space and really isolate Joe and Angela in that window. We have become now the observing neighbors, peeking in on them together. I knew that. But the discovery during the editing process was that we could begin the film with this same motif of ‘windows’ and windows that were kind of shifting in space. Kind of compressing so that there was an increasing sense of claustrophobia or being closed in in different. So that was a discovery - the book ending of the this window motif.”
With three features under your belt as a director, what are you learning with each experience?
“Well, I think if you can ever shoot anything in order, you should, because it makes everybody's performances even more organic. But I think that I also just really value the effect of rehearsal time, and I think something that people often sacrifice immediately because of the logistical complications of scheduling. On this film, rehearsing led to the result that we really hoped for. The other thing, in terms of post, I'm a big fan of sound design and really spending time in your sound mix. I always want more days. I think every time I do a film, I realize it is a part of the process I deeply love. And I think it's always about carving up more days. It's more days for rehearsal, but also more days in sound.
“I think that people underestimate the importance of marinating in the sound mix and trying things. You can add a whole other layer of storytelling. You just learn so much from that process. So learning that for the next time.
“Editing this movie was a challenge because I was editing myself, which is its own sort of tricky feat. I don't think anyone should ever spend six months in a room looking at themselves. I think that's ill-advised. But it means that you need to have a team who you really trust to tell you whether you are underserving or over serving your own performance.
“I think it's really a benefit to have some really smart people on board and people like Blackfish often would tell me that I was avoiding my close-ups. He was like, ‘I need to see how Angela's feeling.’ And I would say, ‘I don't know? I feel like we were on my face for a long time. I think we should get off.’ And he's like, 'No, I don't think we should get off of it.' I think you have to allow for that.
“So the lesson in every production - pre-production and post-production - is always hiring the best possible team and trusting them, and then allowing for as much time as possible. With this film, it was done in an almost old-school way because of the time we actually spent putting it together, rehearsing it, shooting it on film, and then allowing for that process to take hold. And then, of course, the sound and the score as well.”
Where did the final mix take place?
“In London, at Abbey Road.”
What is next for you? Directing, acting or a combination of both?
“For me, the next gig is directing, and this is something I'm not acting in. It is another comedy, and I'm very excited to make another comedy, especially now spending time in theaters with audiences watching The Invite. That energy, in a crowded theater, watching a comedy, is unlike anything, and if I can be a part of making more of those theatrical comedies, I want to!”