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You're Cordially Invited

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This article is about the 2025 comedy film. For the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, see You Are Cordially Invited.

You're Cordially Invited
Release poster
Directed byNicholas Stoller
Written byNicholas Stoller
Produced by
Starring
  • Will Ferrell
  • Reese Witherspoon
CinematographyJohn Guleserian
Edited by
  • Daniel Gabbe
  • Hugh Ross
Music byMichael Andrews
Production
companies
Distributed byAmazon MGM Studios
Release date
  • January 30, 2025 (2025-01-30)
Running time
109 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

You're Cordially Invited is a 2025 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Nicholas Stoller for Amazon MGM Studios. It stars Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon.

The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on January 30, 2025.

Plot

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Overattentive single father Jim is shocked to hear that his daughter, Jenni, has gotten engaged to her boyfriend Oliver. Jim calls to book the small inn on Palmetto Island, Georgia, the same place where Jim and Jenni's mother were married before her death from cancer. The owner, Scarlett, accepts his reservation for June 1, but abruptly dies before she can fill out the booking on the inn's calendar. Meanwhile, television producer Margot finds out that her sister Neve plans to marry her boyfriend Dixon, an exotic dancer. She also volunteers to plan the wedding, also booking Palmetto Island, where she and Neve visited their grandmother as children. Leslie, Palmetto House's new manager, takes their booking for June 1, unaware of the previous booking.

On the weekend of the weddings, both parties arrive and discover the double booking. Since the island is too small to accommodate two weddings, Margot initially claims the venue for Neve and Dixon, but they later agree to share the island by alternating between indoor and outdoor events. Neve reveals to Margot that she is pregnant, but asks her to keep it a secret to avoid upsetting their traditional mother Flora. At the rehearsal dinners, both parties are forced inside by a rainstorm. Jim charms Margot's siblings and mother, frustrating Margot, who has a strained relationship with her family. Jim and Jenni perform Islands in the Stream together, disturbing Margot with the sexual undertones of the song. Afterwards, Margot makes a drunken toast; when Jim attempts to take the microphone from her, she accidentally hits Jenni in the face with it. In the morning, Jim overhears Margot criticizing Jenni's appearance and her closeness with her dad to her family, who defend Jim. As an act of revenge, he intentionally draws out Jenni and Oliver's ceremony so that Neve and Dixon will not be able to marry at sunset, then enlists a boat to drive past the dock where their ceremony is taking place to splash the wedding party. On a second pass, the dock collapses, dropping the family into the water.

Jim and Margot meet up later in the evening, where Margot apologizes to Jim, only for him to guiltily admit to his revenge plans. A furious Margot enlists her siblings to ruin Jenni and Oliver's reception by destroying their wedding cake. Afterward, they have a heartfelt conversation, where each of them open up about their life problems. While they are talking, they see someone who appears to be Oliver outside the hotel kissing a bridesmaid. Margot tells Jim, who is dubious. After finding out from Oliver that he and Jenni are planning to move from Atlanta to Memphis and had been hiding it from Jim, however, he reveals the information, but implies that he witnessed the moment himself. A furious Jenni begins kissing other attendees at random, leading Oliver to do the same with a bridesmaid. Amid the chaos, it is revealed that the person Margot saw was one of Oliver's groomsmen. Jenni angrily leaves Jim and the island behind, while Neve and Dixon complete their interrupted ceremony. At the reception, Margot fights with her mother over her emotional unavailability, revealing her sibling's secrets in the process, while her family criticizes her for being distant from them. When she returns to her room, Jim is waiting with an alligator, which bites Margot before Jim throws it out of the hotel window. Dixon treats the injury and Margot reconciles with her family and with Jim.

When Jim discovers through social media that Jenni and Oliver have annulled their marriage, he gets a ride with Margot back to Atlanta to try to convince her to go through with the marriage. He and Jenni have a heart-to-heart, agreeing not to lie to each other anymore. She and Oliver decide not to get remarried, but still plan to move to Nashville together and remain a couple. Afterwards, Jenni reveals to Margot that Jim is romantically interested in her. The two make plans to see each other again and share a kiss before Margot returns home. The following Thanksgiving, Margot's family, along with Jim, Jenni, and Oliver, visit her in Los Angeles and take a family photo together. Jim proposes to Margot, who instead suggests that they elope in order to avoid another wedding fiasco.

Cast

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Production

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Nicholas Stoller wrote, directed, and produced the film, while Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon starred and serve as producers alongside Jessica Elbaum, Conor Welch, and Lauren Neustadter. Serving as executive producers are Ashley Strumwasser, and Alex Brown. Production companies are Stoller Global Solutions, Gloria Sanchez Productions, and Hello Sunshine. The project landed at Amazon Studios in July 2022.[2][3]

Ferrell and Witherspoon were revealed to be attached to the project in June 2022.[4] Principal photography began in Atlanta in May 2023.[5][6]

Release

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You're Cordially Invited was released worldwide on Amazon Prime Video on January 30, 2025.[7]

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 63 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "While Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon work well together as catty combatants, tired set-pieces and a misjudged romantic subplot make this an invitation you can file under 'maybe.'"[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[9]

Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film two and a half out of four stars and wrote, "Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon have both been around long enough to have become the movie star equivalent of comfort food. By this point in their respective careers, you know what you're getting, especially if the project is a comedy, and if you like it, it'll fill you up for a couple of hours. You're Cordially Invited is reheated comedy leftovers, for the most part, but there's enough warmth, sentimentality, and belly laughs to make for a raucous timewaster."[10]

References

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  1. ^ "You're Cordially Invited (15)". British Board of Film Classification. January 25, 2025. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  2. ^ Jackson, Angelique (July 6, 2022). "Amazon Studios Lands Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell Wedding Comedy Directed by Nick Stoller". Variety. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  3. ^ Grobar, Matt (July 6, 2022). "Will Ferrell-Reese Witherspoon Wedding Comedy From 'Bros' Director Nick Stoller Lands At Amazon". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  4. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 16, 2022). "Hot Package #2: Buyers Spark To Nick Stoller Wedding Comedy Package With Reese Witherspoon & Will Ferrell Attached". Hollywood Deadline. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  5. ^ "Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell, coming to Atlanta to shoot You're Cordially Invited". ajc.com. March 22, 2023. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  6. ^ Heller, Karen (May 10, 2023). "Y'all are precious': Gen X Southern moms are what works in comedy now". Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 20, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  7. ^ Zee, Michaela (May 14, 2024). "'You're Cordially Invited' Trailer: Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell Wage Wedding Warfare in Prime Video's R-Rated Comedy". Variety. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  8. ^ "You're Cordially Invited". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  9. ^ "You're Cordially Invited". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  10. ^ Zoller Seitz, Matt (January 31, 2025). "You're Cordially Invited". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
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