In Netflix‘s UNINVITED, the night is loud with music, glitter, and the kind of rich-people extravagance that blinds you. But behind the perfume and the pearls, one woman walks through it all like a ghost with a purpose. She is not here to celebrate. She’s not even supposed to be here. She came for justice.
Directed by Dan Villegas, Uninvited marks his return to the screen after a six-year hiatus — and what a chilling return it is. Inspired by the real-life story of Mexican activist Miriam Rodríguez Martínez, the film weaves a tense and emotional tale of one mother’s grief-fueled revenge. With a cast led by screen legend Vilma Santos, the film unfolds like a live grenade: quiet at first, then shattering.
A Party No One Will Forget
At the center of Uninvited is Lilia Capistrano (Vilma Santos), a grieving mother whose daughter Lily (Gabby Padilla) was taken, assaulted, and killed by people working for a powerful man — billionaire and crime kingpin Guilly Vega (Aga Muhlach). With a heart still burning with pain, Lilia assumes a new identity: Eva Candelaria. She’s not just playing dress-up. She’s here with a mission.
She arrives uninvited at Vega’s extravagant birthday bash — a party teeming with politicians, power players, and secrets. Dressed in class and calm, Eva slinks into the lion’s den with nothing but her wits and a story she rehearsed for years. But even the most carefully planned revenge can go off-script.
A Stylish, Uneven Symphony of Rage
Villegas’ direction leans heavily into mood. There’s a surreal sheen to the movie — helped by Pao Orendain’s rich cinematography — that almost makes it feel like a dream or a slow-building nightmare. The visuals are dark and glossy, the kind you’d expect from a noir-tinged thriller. But beneath the style lies a movie trying to juggle a lot: trauma, justice, female rage, betrayal, and class warfare.
And that’s where the cracks begin to show.
While the premise is striking, the script by Dodo Dayao sometimes stretches itself too thin. Characters appear as ideas more than people — archetypes placed to push the plot forward. Guilly Vega is painted in broad strokes: a monster in a tailored suit, with barely a hint of humanity. His wife Katrina (Mylene Dizon) simmers with quiet rebellion, but never gets the space to boil over. Their daughter Nicole (Nadine Lustre) has all the fire and venom, yet doesn’t truly affect the story’s outcome.
Only Lilia — or rather, Eva — gets the full arc, and that’s thanks largely to Vilma Santos’ grounded, layered performance.
Santos Holds It All Together
There’s a quiet fury in Santos’ eyes throughout the film, even in moments of stillness. Her Lilia is a woman crushed by loss but unwilling to be broken. She doesn’t move like an action hero, nor does she want to be one. She’s here because no one else was going to fight for her daughter. Her performance is both haunting and painfully human.
And yet, the film sometimes forgets that Lily’s story matters too. We get flashes of her life, mostly as memory or tragedy. She becomes a symbol, not a person. While Gabby Padilla does her best with what little time she’s given, the film never fully allows Lily to exist outside the context of her mother’s vengeance.
Twists, Bodies, and Missing Security
As the party rages on, bodies start falling. Guilly’s world unravels, but oddly, no one seems to notice. The security setup — mentioned early on as impenetrable — vanishes once the chaos begins. It’s a jarring shift that undermines the tension. If this mansion was a fortress, how did it become a playground of death so quickly?
It’s a question that might bother some viewers, but Uninvited doesn’t want to slow down to explain. It wants to sprint toward its climax, where revenge and regret clash under the ballroom lights.
A Message in the Blood
Uninvited is a messy movie — but it’s not without merit. It has something to say about justice, about the systems that protect the powerful and leave the broken to rot. It hints at the performative nature of power, how even the richest criminals can be brought to their knees by the truth — or a mother who refuses to be silenced.
Still, it doesn’t fully land the message. The narrative flirts with depth but never dives in. It serves drama, spectacle, and a stunning lead performance, but its commentary feels more whispered than shouted.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a tight revenge thriller with emotional weight, Uninvited delivers in parts. It’s gripping, well-acted, and sharply shot. But it also leans too heavily on genre tropes and struggles to flesh out anyone beyond its lead.
Vilma Santos carries this film like a torch, and her fire is worth watching — even when the rest of the movie doesn’t burn quite as brightly.
Don’t miss your chance to experience this night of vengeance, secrets, and reckoning. Head over to Netflix for Uninvited, and witness a party that no one — not even the dead — will forget.
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