The Invite, directed by Olivia Wilde, is a film that unfolds almost entirely within the confines of a single apartment. This San Francisco home, shared by married couple Angela (played by Wilde) and Joe (Seth Rogen), becomes a character in its own right. The apartment’s design, meticulously crafted by production designer Jade Healy, serves as a visual narrative of the couple’s strained relationship, which is put on full display during a chaotic dinner with neighbors Pína (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton).
Wilde drew inspiration from classic films like Hannah and Her SistersAmour and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to create a space that feels lived-in and rich with history. The apartment, built on a soundstage at Sunset Las Palmas Studios in Los Angeles, was designed to evoke the essence of pre-war San Francisco units while incorporating unique elements that reflect the couple’s personal journey.
The Labyrinthian Design of the Apartment
Healy’s vision for the apartment was to create a labyrinthian quality, emphasizing the couple’s feeling of being trapped in their marriage. The script initially called for an open kitchen, dining room, and living room, but Healy recognized the potential for a more complex layout. “The script had an open kitchen, dining room, and living room as part of their renovation, and I knew that that would be a mistake,” Healy explains. “Instead, we created this labyrinthian quality.”
This intricate design allowed for “frames within frames,” a concept that Wilde and Healy embraced to capture the characters’ separate experiences within the shared space. Mirrors were strategically placed not only for practical editorial reasons but also to symbolize the couple’s shared space without true connection. “The use of structure to represent boundaries slowly falling away was really exciting to us,” Wilde adds.
The Lived-In Aesthetic
The apartment is filled with layers of décor, photographs, books, and artwork, each piece telling a story about the couple’s life together. Mismatched moldings and doorknobs hint at the renovations they have undertaken, including combining two units. These details bring the apartment to life and make it feel more real. “Those kinds of things bring the apartment to life and make it feel more real,” says Healy.
Angela’s aesthetic is described as warm, maximalist, and classic. Healy imagined Angela as someone who frequently moves decor and furniture in and out of the rooms, always on the lookout for deals at estate sales, vintage stores, and on Facebook Marketplace. “I wanted it to feel real to how much money they make,” Healy says. “So Angela had to be constantly looking for stuff that she could afford.”
The Statement Rug
One of the most significant pieces in the apartment is a vibrant vintage rug that Angela unfurls onto the living room floor just before her dinner guests arrive. This rug, meant to impress Hawk, is a statement piece that Angela hopes will fill the void she feels in her life. “Angela loves stuff that has memory and a sense of time to it,” Healy explains. “She wants a statement piece. The apartment stands in for all the things she feels like she’s lacking in her life, so the rug needed to be something that would fill that void.”
The Bathroom Renovation
Design also plays a crucial role in the story when Angela shows Hawk her bathroom renovation, which doesn’t look like a renovation at all. Due to the short timeline to build the set, Healy’s chosen tiles didn’t arrive on time, forcing the team to mimic them with painted tileboard. This detail adds another layer of authenticity to the apartment, reflecting Angela’s desire to create a perfect facade.
The Color Palette and Symbolism
The color palette throughout the apartment, featuring shades like Farrow & Ball’s Blue Gray and Vale Mist, evokes a coldness between the couple and suggests they are drowning under the weight of their marriage. Joe’s study is painted in an even darker hue, Farrow & Ball’s Oval Room Blue, to represent just how far underwater he is. “The bedroom is the state of her marriage with Joe,” Healy says. “I wanted that crack in the wall to be symbolic of the fracture in their relationship.”
The set not only helped Wilde to build the world of the film but also to inhabit Angela. The layers of life and family were everywhere, allowing Wilde to feel a constant, visceral sense of Angela’s effort to make the space a display of her contribution to the family. “Angela’s identity is interlocked with the apartment itself, and she quite literally blends in with the walls at times,” Wilde says. “The layers of life and family were everywhere, allowing for me to feel a constant, visceral sense of her effort to make the space a display of her contribution to the family.”
