Where this was said
The Ambiguous Ending, the 50/50 Split, and What Movies Get Wrong About Divorce
At 1:39:40 · chapter starts 1:37:30
The conversation arrives at The Invite's deliberately ambiguous ending — designed so that each audience member brings their own experience to it. Olivia reveals that every screening poll she's done has split the audience exactly 50/50 on whether the central couple stays together. Seth Rogen was certain they stay together; Olivia is less sure. The conversation branches into what movies get wrong about divorce: Mrs. Doubtfire is cited as a rare 1990s film that ends with the couple happy and separated rather than reunited, which Olivia calls 'very bold for its time.' With 50% of marriages ending, she argues we need more stories that treat a well-executed ending as a healthy outcome rather than a failure. The chapter closes on speechlessness as the most devastating relationship moment — and how The Invite's ending weaponizes silence.
The Invite was shot chronologically on film with the cast workshopping the script throughout production — the creative team did not know the ending until one week before they filmed it.
In The Invite, there's a pivotal scene where Edward Norton's character tells a story nobody had written. Norton came up with it entirely alone, Wilde told him not to spoil it, and when the cameras rolled, she burst into tears. She had no idea where he was going. That spontaneous story is now one of her favorite scenes in the film.
