Shadows on the Wall | The Uninvited

The Uninvited

dir-scr Nadia Conners
prd Carlos Cusco, Rosie Fellner, Ariel Taboada
with Elizabeth Reaser, Walton Goggins, Lois Smith, Pedro Pascal, Rufus Sewell, Eva De Dominici, Roland Rubio, Kate Comer, Michael Panes, Annie Korzen, Bobby Burkich, Emma West
release US/UK 9.May.25
24/US 1h37

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Unfolding in real time in one location, this blackly comical drama feels like a play in which people are farcically distracted from the real action taking place off-stage. So the plot isn't what it seems to be, as characters grapple with issues they never saw coming. This makes momentous events feel somewhat constructed, but writer-director Nadia Conners and her terrific ensemble bring things to life with strong emotional resonance.

Hosting an industry party in their Hollywood home, actress Rose (Reaser) and agent Sammy (Goggins) are making final preparations when the befuddled Helen (Smith) turns up, thinking she's home. Rose, who has involuntarily stepped away from acting to raise their 6-year-old son (Rubio), offers to help Helen find her way home as the guests begin arriving. These include top filmmaker Gerald (Sewell), rising actress Delia (De Dominici) and major movie star Lucien (Pascal), who got his start on stage alongside Rose. Their lingering feelings worry Sammy, but not as much as his problems at work.

Everything is tinged with humour, with darker things happening under the surface, as characters wrestle with personal ambitions and private feelings. We also learn about them from the way they react to the arrival of this helpless woman. Some are instantly friendly and engaged, some deny responsibility and want to leave, and others simply accept her as an interesting person at a lively party. Its the shifting, spiralling conversations that drive the story forward.

At the centre, Smith has a wonderful presence. A former actress, Helen might be confused, but she knows human behaviour, and pointedly takes on these heavy hitters. Reaser and Goggins have terrific chemistry as a couple that has drifted into complacence: they still love each other, but have stopped kindling that spark. Pascal and Sewell add strong textures as powerful men intricately involved with Rose and Sammy. And De Dominici is terrific in a superb role that grows increasingly nuanced.

If there's a central theme, it involves getting out of our self-involved point of view to truly see those around us. Both Rose and Sammy are having identity crises, but they haven't quite understood how deep these feelings run. And it takes a kind of magical figure like Helen to upend their usual chaos. Yes, all of this is deliberately structured to force them to open up. But it's so well-played, and so nicely contained in this gorgeous location, that it's both entertaining and thoughtfully provocative.

themes, language, drugs 17.Mar.25

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