Olivia Wilde said new audience responses to “The Invite” have strengthened her optimism about cinema, romance and younger viewers’ appetite for adult storytelling. Speaking at the Locarno Film Festival, she said the film had made her “much more romantic” and less cynical, after conversations with long-term couples reshaped her understanding of its central relationship.

Wilde now sees the film as exploring whether partners can begin again with the same person, rather than simply depicting a relationship’s end. Her third feature, following “Booksmart” and “Don’t Worry Darling”, stars Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton; she said its largest US audience is under 35, including many viewers in their twenties, and defended its theatrical release as a communal experience.