THE INVITATION

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

The film opens a century ago in an old mansion. A woman named Emmaline Alexander (Virag Barany) has confined herself to her room, while the butler tells her she needs to feed. Emmaline runs from her room and ties a rope around her neck and uses a statue as a weight. She declares that whatever is going on will end with her, and she hangs herself.

In present day New York City, Evelyn “Evie” Jackson (Nathalie Emmanuel) is working as a server at a museum for snooty people along with her best friend Grace (Courtney Taylor). Evie has felt alone since her mother passed from cancer five months earlier, and her father passed when she was 14. She then uses a DNA kit to learn more about her extended family.

Evie receives a message from a young British man named Oliver Alexander (Hugh Skinner). Despite some hesitations, Evie agrees to meet with Oliver in person. They have lunch and discuss some of Oliver’s family history, as Evie is descended from Emmaline after she had a secret child from an affair. He then invites Evie to London for a wedding between other extended relatives. Although a bit nervous, Evie agrees.

Evie arrives in London at the DeVille estate where the wedding will be hosted. She meets the stuffy butler, Mr. Fields (Sean Pertwee), before meeting the lord of the estate, Walter “Walt” DeVille (Thomas Doherty). Evie is charmed by his kind demeanor and handsome looks. He promises to make her feel at home.

Evie is given a tour by the head maid, Mrs. Swift (Carol Ann Crawford), who tells her about the bells in the house and how they are connected to other rooms. Evie also calls Grace to tell her about the estate and how hot Walt is. Later, she walks through the halls and witnesses Mr. Fields instructing a group of maids, picking one to work in a certain part of the house. The maid goes into the room where she is grabbed by an unseen creature.

The next morning, Evie is invited to a family reunion to meet the rest of the clan. The great uncle of the family gives a welcoming speech to Evie. Walt also gets closer to Evie and tries to flirt with her. Meanwhile, two other maids are instructed to work inside a wine cellar. While they mess around at first, they are soon picked off and grabbed by the same mysterious creature.

Walt gives Evie a gown to wear for a ball that evening. While out in the party, Evie meets the tall, beautiful, and condescending Viktoria (Stephanie Corneliussen) and the kinder Lucy (Alana Boden). Afterwards, Evie sits with Walt in the bedroom where they watch the fireworks and share their first kiss.

As Evie gets closer to Walt, she is invited to a pre-wedding pampering session with Viktoria, Lucy, and other female guests. While Viktoria continues to talk down to Evie, she considers Lucy to be more of a friend. During the session, Evie’s finger gets cut, and Viktoria begins to suck the blood from the finger, creeping Evie out.

Evie walks through the house later and discovers that Walt had been doing investigating into Evie’s life, finding several documents of personal information, including her Facebook profile and other things. Evie confronts Walt and threatens to leave, but he convinces her that he had no bad intentions in doing so. He manages to seduce her, and the two make love for the first time. Walt also appears to try and trick Evie into agreeing to a marriage.

The family hosts a dinner where Evie believes she will finally meet the bride and groom. After a speech is given, Walt announces to the family that Evie has agreed to marry him, shocking her. Moments later, the family brings out one of the maids, and they slit her throat and pour her blood into a bowl, horrifying Evie. She realizes that they are vampires, and Walt is attempting to continue a family tradition of having three wives from the other vampire families (including Viktoria and Lucy), and Evie was the latest female descendant of Emmaline, whose bloodline only produced boys. Evie attempts to run, but she is subdued by the family.

Evie is taken into a cellar to prepare her for a wedding with Walt, but Mrs. Swift comes to free her due to feeling guilty over what happened to Emmaline. Despite knowing she will be killed, Mrs. Swift helps Evie escape. Evie makes it into a nearby town where she meets Jonathan and Mina Harker (Jeremy Wheeler and Elizabeth Counsell). Evie asks for their help and is invited into their shop. As Mina calls for help, Evie quickly discovers that they are loyal to the vampire clan, and although she tries to run, Mina knocks her out and waits for the others to get her.

Evie is prepared for the wedding. As she is set to take her vows, she remembers encouraging words from her mother, and she intends to fight back. Evie drinks Walt’s blood and gains vampire powers. She sets fire to the place and pierces Walt through the heart before freeing a maid that was intended for sacrifice. Evie runs and is found by Mr. Fields, whom she fights and kills by slitting his throat. Viktoria goes after her and nearly kills her, but Lucy helps fight back because she is tired of the cruelty and bloodshed, so she impales both of them and they disintegrate. A weakened Walt goes after Evie, but she overpowers him and throws him into the fire. As he dies, Evie’s vampirism wears off.

Two weeks later, Oliver is still looking for Evie. She finds him first and recruits Grace to help finish him off.

Evie Jackson feels alone after the death of her mother. She takes a DNA test and finds a distant British relative named Oliver Alexander. Evie is descended from Emmaline Alexander, and she is the latest female relative. Oliver invites Evie to what is supposedly a wedding between other relatives. Evie meets the lord of the estate, Walt DeVille, and she starts to fall in love with him.

The truth is that the family are vampires and Evie is meant to be Walt's third bride since he weds daughters from other vampire families, and Evie is next in line. Evie is helped by the family maid and tries to escape, only to be sent back by a couple (the Harkers) loyal to the vampires. Evie is forced to wed Walt, but she drinks his blood and inherits vampire powers. Evie kills the evil butler and fights one of the vampire brides, only for the second bride to have a change of heart and kill herself along with the other bride. Evie finishes Walt off and loses her vampire powers.

Evie and her friend Grace then track Oliver down to finish him off.