Watch The Wedding Guest

The Wedding Guest is a tense and gripping thriller that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018. Directed by Michael Winterbottom, the film stars Dev Patel as Jay, a mysterious and enigmatic man who travels from the UK to Pakistan to kidnap a bride-to-be on the eve of her wedding. As the film opens, Jay is seen preparing for his mission, buying weapons and false passports and carefully studying the layout of the small Pakistani town where the wedding is taking place. He arrives in Pakistan and sets about tracking down the bride, Samira (Radhika Apte), renting a car and driving to her hometown.

When he arrives, he quickly discovers that the wedding is not the small affair he had imagined, but a lavish and extravagant event with hundreds of guests. He stakes out the house where Samira is staying and watches her from a distance, waiting for the perfect opportunity to abduct her.

As the night wears on, Jay's plan begins to unravel. Despite his careful preparations, he finds himself facing unexpected obstacles and dangerous adversaries. He is forced to improvise and adapt, using all his skills and resources to outsmart his pursuers and stay one step ahead of the police.

Along the way, he encounters a variety of colorful and memorable characters, including a nervous wedding planner (Nish Nathwani), a flamboyant dance instructor (Jim Sarbh), and a sympathetic prostitute (Meherbaan Singh). He also forms a fragile and uneasy bond with Samira, who discovers his true identity and confronts him about his motivations.

Throughout the film, the atmosphere is tense and claustrophobic, with the narrow streets and crowded buildings of the small Pakistani town providing a stark contrast to Jay's escape and evasion tactics. The film's sound design is particularly effective, with minimal dialogue and a pulsing, percussive score that ratchets up the tension to almost unbearable levels.

As the film builds towards its thrilling conclusion, the stakes get higher and higher, with Jay's enemies closing in and his time running out. The Wedding Guest is a masterful exercise in suspense and intrigue, with powerful performances from Dev Patel and Radhika Apte and expert direction from Michael Winterbottom. It is a must-see for fans of smart, stylish thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

The Wedding Guest is a 2019 thriller with a runtime of 1 hour and 34 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 5.8 and a MetaScore of 57.