Seth Rogen has been having a great year after the second season of The Studio raked in accolades across the board. Meanwhile, Olivia Wilde stars in the delightful I Want Your Sex directed by noted 1990s indie filmmaker Gregg Araki. Wilde also directed The Invite and starred alongside Rogen. The movie saw a high-profile premiere and sold to A24 at the Sundance Film Festival followed by box office success over the summer.
The Invite landed on HBO Max last week and still retains the number one spot on the streaming platform. As reported in Variety, the Wilde-directed comedy is set to receive the Vanguard Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards in January 2027. The award is given to the entire cast and director to celebrate the collaborative nature of the movie. Previous winners include The Trial of the Chicago 7, Green Book, La La Land, Killers of the Flower Moon, and The Fablemans.
The Palm Springs Film Festival chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said that “With The Invite, Olivia Wilde has made a film that is both comedic and deeply human. In addition to directing, she stars alongside three of the most compelling actors working today: Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton.” The Invite offers a truly spectacular ensemble case of genuine chemistry with a great mix of drama and comedy balanced in a single setting reminiscent of a film like Carnage or classic titles such as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.
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Chandi continued, “Each of them brings something irreplaceable to this story, and together they’ve created something that has stayed with audiences long after the credits roll. We are thrilled to honor this incredible team with this year’s Vanguard Award.” The Invite dives into relationship psychology with brutal honesty as the two couples discover interesting details about each other over the course of an evening. The Invite continues to dominate on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 96% critic approval rating and an 89% audience score with over 1,000 verified ratings.
Aside from a few killjoy critics, The Invite is widely praised across the board. Elle magazine writes that “You’ll need to RSVP yes to this restorative invite, and you’ll be all the better for it.” The Times of London observes that “The performances are impeccable, the characters impossibly well-balanced. Wilde the film-maker, is unimpeachable here.” Peter Travers describes the film as a “summer liftoff with a sexy, sophisticated comedy for grownups—did I just die and go to heaven?”
The Invite is the kind of movie that will be discussed for some time. Each viewer will have their own experience. What one finds funny, another will see as too cringey. In recent years, there have been discussions about the lack of sex in movies, but we now have a 2026 Olivia Wilde sexually liberated double feature suggestion: The Invite and I Want Your Sex.
