Olivia Wilde's The Invite to Receive Palm Springs Vanguard Award

Olivia Wilde's film The Invite will receive the Vanguard Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter reported on 28 October 2026.

The Vanguard Award is a group honour. It recognises a film's cast and director together for their shared work on a standout project, rather than a single performer or filmmaker. The award will be accepted by people from the film itself. Wilde, who directs and also acts in the film, is confirmed to attend. Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton are also confirmed to attend to accept it.

The film follows two couples at a dinner party. What starts as a routine evening turns unpredictable, and the night brings out messy relationships and desires that the guests had kept hidden. The screenplay is by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack.

The Invite premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the January event in Utah where many independent films first meet audiences and buyers. It has since received four Gotham Award nominations, the honours handed out by the Gotham Awards in New York for independent film.

The honour will be presented at the Palm Springs International Film Awards on 7 January 2027, at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The wider Palm Springs International Film Festival runs from 7 to 18 January 2027, so the award falls on the opening day of the festival.

For a film that has already had a Sundance premiere, Palm Springs is one of the early stops in the awards calendar. Festivals and ceremonies in the new year tend to draw attention to films released in the months before, and a group award gives several people a shared moment on that stage.