The Invitation, directed by Jessica M. Thompson, is a PG-13 gothic vampire film with an R-rated edit that will be distributed on home video. Thompson told Bloody Disgusting that the R-rated version of The Invitation is “bloodier, hornier, and funnier” than the theatrical release. The Invitation is a retelling of the Dracula legend in which Natalie Emmanuel plays a young woman who receives an invitation to a lavish British wedding and learns that she has wealthy relatives she never knew about. When Evie initially moves in with her mystery host, Walter, she feels she’s struck gold since these individuals genuinely want to help her discover her long-lost relatives (Thomas Doherty).
Many have noted the film’s Gothic mood and said the vampires were portrayed accurately (as lethal but sexually alluring). All of us may thus take comfort in the fact that an R-rated version of The Invitation exists, which significantly increases the amount of violence and sexual content. To paraphrase Thompson: “Yeah, a little more blood, a little bit more of that, but I’m someone who feels you lose the tension as soon as you unveil your monster. For what it’s worth, I say the longer you can put it off, the better. The element of mystery is still present, albeit I will agree there is a bit more bloodshed. A few additional drops of blood may be seen. More explicit language and a longer sexual encounter. For our R-rated version, we get to do all this cool stuff.
“The PG-13 version is what’s going to be out in theatres,” Thompson says, “but the R version is actually going to be available on the streamers.” This plan seems reasonable. More money may be made at the box office if The Invitation is given a PG-13 classification. An R-rated version is fascinating not only because it exists but also because it will be distributed. According to Thompson’s account, there will also be a graphic decapitation.
Director Jeremy Saulnier says, “But absolutely, something occurs to Emmaline, the great-grandmother, that I think is such a shock, and Iván Pohárnok’s prosthetics are terrific.”
Thompson helms The Invitation, which Butler penned the screenplay for. Alana Boden, Courtney Taylor, Hugh Skinner, and Sean Pertwee also feature in the film alongside Stephanie Corneliussen. You can see The Invitation in cinemas right now.
Synopsis
Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) takes a DNA test after the loss of her mother and the discovery that she has no living relatives. She learns she has a distant relative she had no idea about. She is invited by her new family to a sumptuous wedding in the English countryside, where she is first tempted by the gorgeous nobleman host but is quickly plunged into a nightmare of survival as she learns the dark past and sinister motives behind her family’s immoral generosity.