The Uninvited (2009)
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A woman haunted by nightmares of a tragic fire must confront the reality of her past and the identity of those around her.
The story
Following a suicide attempt after her terminally ill mother died in a house fire, Anna Ivers is discharged from a psychiatric institution after ten months; she has no memory of the actual fire, though recurring nightmares from that night frequently plague her. Back at home, Anna reunites with her older sister Alex and learns their father Steven has a new girlfriend, Rachel Summers, who was their mother's live-in nurse. Anna and Alex become convinced that Anna's nightmares are messages from their mother, telling them that Rachel murdered her so she could be with Steven. The girls become suspicious of Rachel's motives and begin to investigate her past and her role in their family's tragedy.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After a suicide attempt and a stay in a psychiatric institution, Anna Ivers returns home following her mother's death in a fire. She and her sister Alex become convinced that their new stepmother, Rachel, murdered their mother. They begin to suspect Rachel is a dangerous woman named Mildred Kemp. During a confrontation, Rachel sedates Alex, and Anna eventually discovers that Alex has killed Rachel. However, the truth is revealed: Anna suffers from severe schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. She has been hallucinating her sister Alex since returning home. She actually killed her former boyfriend Matt and, in a fit of delusional rage, caused the fire that killed her mother and sister. She also killed Rachel, who was actually a kind woman trying to help the family. In the end, Anna is taken back to the institution, where she meets the real Mildred Kemp.
- First release year
- 2009
- Runtime (minutes)
- 87
- Production countries
- United States; Canada; Germany
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- The Guard Brothers
- Writers
- Craig Rosenberg · screenplay; Doug Miro · screenplay; Carlo Bernard · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Emily Browning · Anna Ivers; Elizabeth Banks · Rachel; Arielle Kebbel · Alex Ivers; David Strathairn · Steven Ivers
- Genres
- psychological horror; mystery thriller
- Themes
- mental illness; identity; grief
- Tone and mood
- moody
- Premise and plot tags
- remake; psychological horror; mystery
- Source material / true-story basis
- A Tale of Two Sisters (2003 film) and the Korean folk tale Janghwa Hongryeon jeon
- Reception
- The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, with some praising the performances and atmosphere while others criticized the predictable plot and ending.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 43 · scale: 100 · review count: 24; Yahoo! Movies · score: C · review count: 11; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A to F
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled A Tale of Two Sisters during production.; The production was filmed on a waterfront property on British Columbia's Bowen Island.; The character Rachel was based on the character in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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