Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Nadia Conners
Starring: Elizabeth Reaser, Lois Smith, Walton Goggins, Pedro Pascal, Rufus
Sewell, Eva De Dominici
Just a week ago while reviewing the Deborah Levy adaptation Swimming Home I noted how so many recent movies were following the template set
down by Jean Renoir in his 1932 satire Boudu Saved from Drowning, that of a wealthy family being shaken up by the arrival of an outsider.
First time writer/director Nadia Conners is the latest
filmmaker to channel Renoir with her Hollywood satire The Uninvited.
I suspect this format has become popular because it requires no more than
a single location, and as these movies tend to be of the talky variety,
they hold appeal for actors. Conners' film is strikingly verbose, and
she's assembled an impressive cast. Along with her husband Walton Goggins she's snared that other man of the moment, Pedro Pascal, a revived Rufus Sewell, the veteran Lois Smith and the under-appreciated Elisabeth Reaser.
Reaser plays an actress who is herself under-appreciated. Once a popular
star of stage and screen, Rose is now struggling to land roles in her
forties. In the movie's opening scene we watch as Rose receives the news
that she has been turned down for a role because the producers consider
her too old to play the mother of a six-year-old; the irony is that Rose
actually has a son who is even younger. Rose's husband, talent agent Sammy
(Goggins), is similarly worried about his future. He's plotting to leave
his agency and set up one of his own. His three top client targets are
British blockbuster director Gerald (Sewell), modern day matinee idol
Lucian (Pascal) and rising starlet Delia (Eva De Dominici), employing a clunky Star Wars analogy to compare the trio to Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and
Princess Leia respectively. Hoping to pull off this coup, Sammy and Rose
throw an intimate party in their lavish home in the Hollywood
Hills.
The Boudu-like spanner in the works here is Helen (Smith), an elderly
woman who arrives at Sammy and Rose's home, claiming it's her own. Sammy
suggests calling the police or an ambulance to get rid of this unwanted
intruder, but Rose indulges the old lady. Going through Helen's phone,
Rose calls a friend who agrees to collect her but won't be able to
arrive for a few hours. Thus, Helen remains at the party and spends her
time making observations about the hosts and guests, and everyone learns
a little about themselves along the way.
Helen is deployed here in somewhat patronising fashion. Much like all
those movies where white people discover their humanity by spending time
in the presence of a "magic negro" or adopting a dog, The Uninvited similarly uses the doting Helen as a cheap narrative prop. She
exists solely for the purpose of making these wealthy people realise
that their lives aren't so bad after all.
The drama of The Uninvited might hold more weight if it wasn't so unrelatable to a general
audience. It's very much a satire of Hollywood from the inside, one that
critiques the game rather than the players. Helen, cast aside and almost
friendless in her old age, is supposed to draw comparisons with Rose's
career, the actress now considered washed up because she's the wrong
side of 40. But it's a dated idea that targets an issue that doesn't
really exist anymore. Far from being cast aside, middle-aged actresses
are thriving in modern Hollywood, and the biggest stars of the '90s,
both male and female, are still our biggest stars today. If modern
Hollywood has an ageism problem it's the other way around, with the
studios seemingly reluctant to promote new talent. A more honest version
of The Uninvited would posit Delia as the one facing a series of closed
doors.
Conners' script boasts its share of witty lines, but none of her
characters feel three-dimensional. They're as archetypical as the
victims of a Hollywood-set game of Cluedo. Reaser and Smith are both
excellent here, finding some humanity in these broadly drawn women, but
everyone else acts as though they're this week's guest on SNL and just
received their lines a day before the cameras began rolling. With visual
storytelling practically absent, The Uninvited resembles a filmed play, and many of the performances verge on
the theatrical. Cinema is an art form that rewards subtlety like no
other, and there's nothing subtle about this sledgehammer satire.
The Uninvited is in UK cinemas
from May 9th.
