The Invitation (Karyn Kusama, 2015)

A man grieving the loss of his son two years previously accepts an invitation to a dinner party from his ex-wife, which is also a reunion of friends from the time of the accident. Since we know we're in horror territory or thereabouts, it's clear that all the cloying L.A. platitudes and mild ribbing will have to step aside at some point, and when it becomes evident that the hosts are effectively missionaries for their new-found cult, that points the way for the inevitable development. Nevertheless, it takes far longer than usual to get there, builds up atmosphere effectively and, most importantly, actually has some emotional content rather than just relying on genre cliches.

6/10