Five cinematic dinner parties that serve up farce and fine dining

Olivia Wilde's new comedy 'The Invite' brings a couples' dinner party to the brink of disaster, continuing a cinematic tradition where elaborate dining unearths rivalries and chaos. The film features Wilde, Seth Rogen, Ed Norton, and Penelope Cruz as neighbors whose standard dinner turns strange and sexy. The article traces this tradition through five classic films: Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope' (1948), where murderers host a party for the victim's friends; Luis Buñuel's 'The Exterminating Angel' (1962), where rich guests cannot leave; Thomas Vinterberg's 'Festen' (1998), where a birthday celebration unravels family secrets; Robert Altman's 'Gosford Park' (2001), a murder mystery critiquing the British class system; and Nathan Silver's 'Between the Temples' (2024), where a dinner party provides the climax. 'The Invite' is now in UK cinemas.