The Uninvited (2024) | Film Review

Rose (Elizabeth Reaser) has a life-changing experience when an elderly woman (Lois Smith) claims Rose's house as her own.

Admittedly the first thing that caught my attention about this film is that it has the same name as a horror film that I love, and it also sounds a bit like a horror film itself. So to be clear, this isn't a horror film.

I'm still not sure what to think about this film, after sitting with it for a couple of weeks. I liked individual parts of it, but I don't think I liked it as a whole piece.

One thing I was hoping for at the beginning was that there wouldn't be a big obvious twist from the get-go, and while I won't spoil whether there was or not, I was a bit disappointed with the ending.

The character relationships feel really authentic, and this is mainly down to how good the writing is. Each conversation between Rose and her husband Sammy (Walton Goggins) felt like the audience are intruding on a private moment, and that's exactly what it should feel like.

I loved that this got straight into the story and didn't take too long building a world around these characters. We get to know them as the story continues and this works really well.

All the characters are interesting individually and the actors have good chemistry. But eventually this isn't enough, we actually need to connect with them and we don't really get to. The characters spend a lot of time talking with each other about things the audience doesn't care about, and it would be great if we could get to know them through these conversations but for the most part, they are focused on people that aren't particularly important to the story.

There are things set up from the beginning of the film that just go nowhere.

And then there's the ending, which felt like it was still the middle of the film. Nothing felt finished, and when the credits rolled I sat back wondering what the hell had just happened. It felt like you were just thrown into the middle of a party with no context, and then ripped back out just as you were getting used to being there.

So overall, this isn't one I'd watch again or really recommend. There were some great ideas here, but everything just feels unfinished and frustrating.

4.5/10