The Uninvited

After watching Pedro Pascal and Walter Goggins absolutely dominate in The Last of Us and Fallout, I was really hoping/expecting there would be more to this than the description. Some kind of time-travel thing or something to make it interesting. (Between the title and setting, my mind kept going back to The Invitation, which definitely had its shortcomings but was at least creative) Unfortunately, it's just a straight drama. For what it is it's done very well, but the entire movie is just interpersonal drama with layers of trivial love story. It's a story, just not one worth telling.

The movie is done very well, so if you're someone that likes filling your head with banal personal BS, it's definitely worth checking out. If you like stories with creativity, definitely skip this. Pedro Pascal's charisma may seem endless, but it can't carry this much.

In stylish but pretentiously artsy drama "The Uninvited" Hollywood agent Walton Goggins (always good) & ex-actress wife Elizabeth Reaser (outstanding) host a party for guests including actors Pedro Pascal (Reaser's first love who supposedly oozes charm - tho Pascal doesn't convey that) & Goggins' main client Rufus Sewell (with actress gf Eva Di Dominici). As domestic issues unfold (particularly between Goggins & Reaser) elderly Lois Smith pitches up with her dementia apparently convincing her she lives there. What writer / director Nadia Conners intended with it all in her second film is unclear even after the credits roll. It's quite nice to look at, but ultimately meh.

A easy going, sharp movie, with a feminine sensibility. Quick, clear dialogue... like you're in a play, a beautiful play. The acting is impeccable all around ... particularly Elizabeth Reaser and Lois Smith. The script is full of twists that unfold providing more depth to every character and surfacing unexpected connections. It's well timed. I really disagree with many other IMDB reviews, which - perhaps - fail to reconcile seeing these fantastic crew acting with no plethora of special effects... life as it is. Also, the constant comedy/drama interchange may be unsettling for some; I find it refreshing and, again, very real. Kudos to Nadia Conners and this crew!

I really enjoyed this sensitive intelligent film with its insightful script of adults trying to understand themselves and their complicated lives. Set in a beautiful Hollywood Hills home the characters are complex as they struggle with how to treat each other and their own vulnerabilities. An elderly stranger arrives whose wisdom slowly unfolds as the well acted party guests gradually reveal their truer selves. All of the actors are excellent in their roles. Walton Goggins and Pedro Pascal are interesting as their divergent characters. The setting and scenes all take place at the home and could be a superb Broadway play as well.

Rose" (Elizabeth Reaser) is married to talent agent "Sammy" (Walton Goggins) and they are preparing for a make-or-break party at their home one evening when the sound of a repetitious car horn sends her out to investigate. That's when she meets "Helen" (Lois Smith). She's an elderly lady convinced that she lives in their house, and when "Rose" takes her in whilst trying to summon some help her presence seems to galvanise her family and their guests into a series of revealingly uninteresting and cocaine-induced home truths that drags the whole thing into the doldrums of a melodrama populated by some seriously mediocre actors adequately reflected by the presence of Rufus Sewell! Actually, any scene stealing probably just belongs to a toilet doorknob, to Smith and to an enthusiastic effort from Roland Rubio as their son "Wilder". Otherwise it's really just a collection of who cares people that engender very little interest in their self-induced and/or self-serving problems. Stereotypes galore, sorry!