Walton Goggins says it was vital to tell the story of The Uninvited, which is based on a strange event that occurred at his and director Nadia Conners’ Hollywood home.
“It’s a true story. The genesis of the story is true,” Goggins tells GamesRadar+. “I would imagine that there are there are elements of our relationships that are that are sprinkled throughout – elements of my my wife’s relationship with her mother, certainly, how my wife has felt at times about her own career and what she had to give up in the Sophie’s Choice that that that she was faced with. And the loneliness, I suppose, that we all feel. But it is predicated on an elderly woman who showed up at our house thinking that it was hers on the night of a very important party that we were having.”
The indie comedy of errors, written and directed by Conners, follows retired actor and homemaker Rose (Elizabeth Reaser) and her agent husband Sammy (Goggins) as they host an important dinner party for Sammy’s star client Gerald (Rufus Sewell). But when a confused, elderly woman named Helen (Lois Smith) shows up in their driveway, what was meant to be a low-key soiree ends up being one of the most important nights of their lives. Pedro Pascal and Eva De Dominici round out the star-studded ensemble cast.
Conners initially conceived the story as a play, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced all of the theaters to shut down, leading her to reimagine The Uninvited as a film. Though that elderly woman did show up in their driveway, they were able to get her safe and home after 20 or so minutes of her arrival with the help of police. The film, however, explores an alternate reality where she didn’t get taken home right away, and the party continued on. Helen’s arrival causes Rose and Sammy to completely reexamine their lives, while their party guests enjoy a lovely evening, oblivious to it all.
“It was so important to tell this story. And it is not my wife, and it’s not our relationship, but there are versions. Some of these situations represent, you know, our own life, which are universal themes [that] explore probably every relationship,” Goggins explains. “And I’m sure that there was a period of time in our life as a couple where I was doing everything to get her attention. You know? And I wasn’t receiving it. I think that’s ubiquitous for couples, some along the way, and then those roles shift. But the thing that I was so attracted to about the story and what my wife had done is that it really represents both sides of a relationship. And from a female’s perspective and from a male’s perspective, especially these two people’s perspective, and, how this this catalyst, this woman played by Lois Smith, Helen, is such a a big catalyst for change in in in their in their lives and and every other person’s life in the story.”
The Uninvited hits cinemas in the UK on May 9. You can find the complete list of theaters and showtimes here. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond.
