Critical Darlings

“The Invite” Or, Who’s Afraid Of Olivia Wilde? (With Emily Gould)

July 30, 2026·1h 35m
Episode Description from the Publisher

Come for the Les Miz karaoke takes, stay for The Invite. New York Magazine’s Emily Gould joins us to discuss Olivia Wilde’s sexy, awkward comedy of domestic manners starring herself, Seth Rogan, Edward Norton, and Penelope Cruz. Set in an aspirational San Francisco apartment owned by a deeply neurotic twosome, they collide with the sexy couple upstairs at an impromptu dinner party staged by Wilde's character Angela. Their night, and the movie itself, swings from polite nicety to anger to sadness to horniness, ultimately arriving at a poignant question: what relationships are worth saving, and when is it time to just move on? Both as a director and performer, The Invite is destined to become a calling card for Wilde. Among many things, we discuss her unusual Hollywood trajectory, the studied aesthetics of aspirational apartment living, Esther Perel, firefighter aesthetics, dinner party etiquette, Les Miz, steak knives, woo woo treatements for back pain, and San Francisco real estate.   Next week, everyone has forgotten about him, except for us! It’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Send us mailbag questions, comments, and gossip: criticaldarlingsmailbag@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Podzilla Summary coming soon

Sign up to get notified when the full AI-powered summary is ready.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.

Listen to This Episode

Get summaries like this every morning.

Free AI-powered recaps of Critical Darlings and your other favorite podcasts, delivered to your inbox.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.