A party in a Hollywood Hills home goes wrong when a confused elderly woman named Helen (Lois Smith) shows up insisting the house is hers. For host Sammy (Walton Goggins), an agent hoping to woo his biggest client for a new business venture, this is a frustrating inconvenience. For his wife Rose (Elizabeth Reaser), a middle-aged actress who isn’t ready to leave an industry that seems finished with her, Helen’s appearance seems portentous, standing in sharp contrast with the superficiality of showbusiness. 

The Uninvited casts a critical eye on Hollywood’s infamous ageism and misogyny. While Rose is passed over for career opportunities because she’s ‘too old’, her male contemporaries jump from one success to another. Her young rival Delia (Eva De Dominici), on the other hand, complains of being reduced to a sexualised cliché and forced into a competitive role. Originally developed as a stage play, The Uninvited never quite shakes its theatrical origins. The finished product is very competent, but it’s tempting to think it might have worked better on the stage after all, with its single setting, small cast of characters, and dialogue-driven plot.

Nevertheless, it’s an affecting film. Smith is brilliant as the delirious but perceptive Helen. Her connection with Rose is at the heart of The Uninvited, showing us a side of Rose that she’s seemingly had to stamp down in order to make it as both an actress and a housewife. As Rose now reckons with the reality of ageing and the inevitability of death, she must ask herself what’s truly important.

The Uninvited is in cinemas from Friday 9 May.