The Uninvited, 2024.
Written and Directed by Nadia Conners.
Starring Elizabeth Reaser, Walton Goggins, Lois Smith, Eva De Dominici, Rufus Sewell, Pedro Pascal, Michael Panes, Kate Comer, Roland Rubio, Annie Korzen, and Bobby Burkich.
SYNOPSIS:
A stranger crashes a party, sparking a comedy of errors, and a reordering of life.
During preparations for an important gathering, where theater actress Rose (Elizabeth Reaser) and talent agent Sammy (Walton Goggins) are hosting an assortment of Hollywood bigwigs from their humongous home, a confused elderly woman named Helen (Lois Smith) pulls up to the gate, insisting she is home and looking for her husband. In writer/director Nadia Conners’ The Uninvited, this arrival will possibly put into perspective an already tumultuous marriage between the two, who trade barbs and have polar opposite ideas on how to handle the situation. For Sammy, this event has crucial career implications. It must go off without a hitch, even if it means funneling his angry personality into something heartless, suggesting they call 911 or an ambulance to let them deal with Helen. Thankfully, Rose is more sympathetic to the dilemma.
That marital dysfunction is played to perfection by Elizabeth Reaser and Walton Goggins, giving off an amusing energy of partners who can’t stand each other and seemingly might only still be together for the sake of their young child, but, at any given moment, can reignite that flame. As for Rose, she is starting to feel like an outsider among these guests, regularly being denied roles with one rejection cited as looking too old to play the mother of a six-year-old boy, even though, in actuality, she is one. Yes, there is some scathingly nuanced commentary on the industry here.
The couple agrees that Rose will stay behind in the home (the party is in the back outside) and tend to whatever Helen needs while sifting through her belongings, hoping to find someone to call who can come pick her up. There is some initial concern that the film will treat this apparent dementia as a playful joke, especially when Helen ends up stuck in the bathroom by accidentally breaking off the doorknob, which means Sammy has to temporarily leave the party to come through a window and repair it. It also seems clear to everyone but this couple that Helen, based on the way she talks about it, once lived in the home.
Fortunately, The Uninvited uses the interactions between Helen and the married couple to stir up drama and expand on that commentary about aging and the key to living a happy life. Nevertheless, that drama increases by tenfold once Hollywood star Lucian (Pedro Pascal in a piece of brilliant casting considering his character is described as someone who could blow up a relationship with a glance) drops by, which surprises Rose since she had assumed Sammy was still jealous over the relationship they had prior while acting in a popular stage production opposite one another.
As much as there is to appreciate what The Uninvited is saying, it’s also a slog that indulges in lengthy one-on-one conversations between characters, revealing more about their history and how some of them are more alike than they seem. It’s also frustrating that, until roughly an hour into the movie, it’s unclear why this party is so essential to Sammy or what it’s even for. Some of that is saved for another reveal when talking to a James Cameron-like blockbuster filmmaker played by Rufus Sewell, who is looking to adapt the play Rose and Lucian made famous. The film also rightfully takes aim at industry standards that allow Lucian to reprise that role for the adaptation, while searching for a younger woman to co-star opposite him instead of bringing back Rose.
Far more baffling is that Nadia Conners gives up figuring out what to have these characters do with Helen, who starts walking across the street and, at one point, drives off into the night, even though Rose is supposed to be looking after her until a friend arrives at the home. She exists as a metaphor and less of a person, something that can be discarded at any time for the movie to focus on other characters. Some will get more mileage out of this than others.
When The Uninvited reaches its emotional payoff, which involves a children’s story also serving as a metaphor for various topics brought up, it doesn’t feel earned. Its observations about Hollywood are pointed but not engaging or biting. Long stretches of the movie go nowhere while we wait for the inevitable conclusion. The impressive ensemble does what they can to elevate the material, but the filmmaking lacks a pulse and dynamism.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
