Film Review: ‘The Uninvited’ is a Hollywood Dramedy with Something to Say About Age

Hollywood critiques usually go big and broad, skewering the town and everyone in it. The industry itself is lit on fire, using extreme examples that you can give a knowing chuckle towards. That’s the standard Hollywood satire. The Uninvited, however, is attempting to do something different. The focuses is smaller and more narrow, with the points no less sharp, but the satirical elements kept more in check. This is a mix of comedy and drama, to be sure, though the commentary being made is both timely and timeless, so the impact is just as effective throughout.

The Uninvited takes a while to find its footing. Even so, it can sometimes feel like a movie that wants to be a season of television. On the one hand, that’s a bit frustrating, while on the other, it speaks to how the characters and set up have potential for expansion. So, what we end up getting is occasionally a mixed bag, but more often still compelling on its own merits.

Rose (Elizabeth Reaser) and Sammy Wright (Walton Goggins) are a Hollywood couple arranging a small get together in their home. She’s an aging actress and he’s a manager hoping to keep his filmmaker client Gerald (Rufus Sewell) happy, so while she’s receiving messages rejecting her for jobs, he’s obsessed with this party going well. Before anyone has even arrived, the couple are already bickering, something that seems to happen often. The arrival of some guests, both expected and unexpected, soon throw things off.

While Sammy wants to start his own agency and amass a rolodex of supporters during the evening, his focus is also on young actress Delia (Eva De Dominici) who has his eye, for personal and professional reasons. Rose’s ex Lucien (Pablo Pascal), a highly paid actor, is on hand too, and while that’s complicated, he’d certainly be a get as well. However, while that’s going on, Rose is also dealing with Helen (Lois Smith), an older woman who has shown up claiming this used to be her home. Her entrance into the house begins to change everything, while serving as a pretty apt metaphor for what women in Hollywood of a certain age are told they can and can’t do.

Elizabeth Reaser and Lois Smith end up with the most to do, though Walton Goggins is no slouch. Reaser rarely gets this sort of a showcase, nor does Smith, and that’s kind of the point. They’re both very good here, too. As is Goggins, just in a slightly less demanding role. Pedro Pascal and Rufus Sewell have small moments, without question, but are far more in the background, narratively. In addition to Eva De Dominici, supporting players here include Kate Comer, Michael Panes, Roland Rubio, and more.

Filmmaker Nadia Connors (Goggins’ real life spouse, btw) takes what was originally conceived as a play and makes it as cinematic as she can. There are still long monologues that the script gives to her cast, as well as far more interiors than exteriors, but it’s never overly stagey. Connors’ writing and direction is solid, even if things never really takes off and get to the next level. Still, had The Uninvited been a season of television on HBO or a streamer, I would have been just as interested. There’s enough here, especially until Hollywood stops casting women of a certain age aside, to more than fill out that time.

The Uninvited is a good dramedy that probably could have been even better with a more singular focus on either the drama or the comedy. However, that’s not the point, and when someone like Reaser or Smith can get showcase roles, that’s the kind of thing you shouldn’t complain about. The good very much outweighs the bad here, making for a solid little Hollywood flick, one that has something very sobering to say.

SCORE: ★★★