The Invitation
Director: Jessica M. Thompson
Year Released: 2022
Rating: 0.0
Aspiring ceramicist Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel), who works as a caterer to pay the bills, takes a 23andMe-type DNA test and learns she has a British cousin named Oliver (Hugh Skinner), who immediately invites her to fly to North Yorkshire to attend a wedding - while there, she falls for the dashing Lord Walter (Thomas Doherty) but starts to think there's something supernatural going on (and the maids keep dying). It's not only completely inept at trying to merge its "socially conscious horror-thriller" template with Bram Stoker's Dracula narrative, it also fails as a metaphor for what Meghan Markle must feel like when she's surrounded by wealthy white elites - screenwriter Blair Butler probably had it in the back of her mind, but couldn't commit to really digging her nails in. I recognize this is a "free adaptation," but in the original novel Jonathan and Mina Harker are the good guys ... although I doubt anyone involved in the production actually bothered to read it.