The Uninvited Review: A Sharp Ensemble Tackles Aging in Hollywood

A disillusioned actress, her equally frustrated husband, and selfish guests experience a night of personal crisis when a confused elderly woman accidentally crashes their star-studded cocktail party. The Uninvited addresses the sobering truths of aging with incisive comedy and sharp social commentary. Writer/director Nadia Conners gets top marks for putting the audience in the shoes of a lovely and caring protagonist who’s constantly told she’s past her prime. A drumbeat of rejection and criticism leads to a truthful reckoning about how women are poorly treated. Misogynists be damned. The ladies in our lives are indispensable and deserve much more credit for everything they do.

Rose (Elizabeth Reaser) tries on different outfits before a mirror. She gets an unnerving call informing her that she’s been denied an acting role because she looks too old for the part. Sammy (Walton Goggins), her agent husband, wonders why she isn’t dressed. The guests are about to arrive at their stunning mansion in the Hollywood Hills. Rose had to put their young son to bed. She was too busy to be ready early. They both pause as a Honda Prius honks at their front gate.

Helen (Lois Smith) keeps honking and pressing a garage remote to no avail. A curious Rose approaches the white-haired driver. Helen insists that this is her home. Rose quickly realizes that Helen has some form of dementia when she starts rambling incessantly. Helen is also hot to the touch. Rose kindly offers to take her inside. Helen is in distress and needs help. Maybe Rose can find out where she actually lives.

Troubling Guests & Bitter Banter

Meanwhile, an unaware Sammy greets a steady stream of highfalutin visitors. Gerald (Rufus Sewell), an A-list director and Sammy’s biggest client, arrives with grandiose pomposity. He’s followed by Delia (Eva De Dominici), a gorgeous young starlet and Gerald’s newest ingénue. Sammy bends over backwards to ingratiate himself. He desperately wants to break free from his job and take their business with him. But the biggest prize is yet to come. Hollywood heartthrob Lucien (Pedro Pascal), always fashionably late, invokes jealousy as Rose’s former boyfriend. Sammy returns to the living room for a big surprise. Helen is somehow trapped in the bathroom. Why did Rose bring this strange woman into the house?

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The Uninvited begins with an almost sitcom-like delivery. Rose and Sammy banter back and forth, trading slights without being too hurtful. They’re annoyed with each other but nowhere near the breaking point. Rose understands show business more than her husband. Sammy needs her to keep the guests entertained while he tries to engage the crowd. They work well together, but have lost sight of their compatibility. The first act successfully establishes critical character dynamics that will come into play later. Rose and Sammy are both hiding secrets that pose a threat to everything they have built together.

Conners, Goggins’ wife who is primarily known for directing Leonardo DiCaprio’s 2007 environmental documentary The 11th Hourbegins to draw a comparison between Rose and Helen, who we discover was also an actress. Rose can’t help but be taken by Helen’s vulnerable state. She’s alone, lost, and subconsciously returned to a place she remembered in her youth. Will Rose end up like Helen in the end? This disconcerting thought transfixes Rose as she doubles her efforts to find where Helen belongs. The party becomes a secondary concern as Sammy flails about without her help.

An Uninvited Lover and a Discarded Woman

Pascal swoops into the narrative like the cool kid that everyone clamors to be around. Lucien represents what Rose couldn’t achieve because of her sex. His fame skyrocketed with age while every female co-star — insert Delia here — remained younger. But the hunky Lucien never fell out of love with Rose despite dumping her years ago. This is the point where Conners’ plot gets especially juicy. He’s changed his tune on the idea of marriage and children. Rose can’t help but be enamored by the reappearance and fawning affection of a treasured lover that discarded her. But she’s also not so easily swept off her feet after all this time.

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Reaser has had a solid career as a supporting character actress in literally dozens of TV and movie roles. Her nuanced turn as Rose shows considerable lead talent. The Uninvited veers into a fascinating drama as Rose struggles with her station. Was she relegated to being a wife and mother because those were her only options? Does she even like being married and having a child? Reaser has an absolutely riveting climactic scene with De Dominici as both women frankly assess each other. Are they both on the path to becoming Helen?

Rich People Problems

The Uninvited does suffer an empathy gap for rich people’s problems. Rose, Sammy, and their elite ilk are fabulously wealthy. Their existential problems ring somewhat hollow, floating in a heated pool with maid service. Conners understands this disconnect and tries to mock their extravagance as a means to an end. It doesn’t really work when the characters’ fiscal comfort leaves them insulated. Sammy hates what he does as an ass-kissing agent, but won’t be flipping burgers the next day. That said, the film closes with a brilliant scene that brings everything into the right perspective. Cherish love and all you have. That’s always enough in the end.

The Uninvited is a production of Rosebud Pictures and Foton Pictures. It will be released in early 2025.