Ten years ago, Karyn Kusama delivered a chillingly prescient cult classic with The Invitation

Beyond her overall genre-hopping mastery, there’s not much in Karyn Kusama’s filmography that could prepare viewers for The Invitation. The filmmaker came to prominence as writer-director of the indie sports drama Girlfight, went on to helm the disastrously received (and studio-meddled) sci-fi action movie Aeon Flux, and brought a stylish visual sensibility to future cult classic Jennifer’s Body. But at the time of The Invitation’s release 10 years ago, Jennifer’s Body was her second big-studio flop, rather than a well-regarded horror comedy, and Kusama had retreated back to independent cinema. She re-emerged with one of the most unusual horror movies of the era — one that would subsequently feel even more in step with the broader culture.