Olivia Wilde made a big splash with her directorial debut, Booksmart, in 2019. Her follow up, Don’t Worry Darling was a critical failure. Her third effort is an English language remake of the Spanish film The People Upstairs and is written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones. Wilde also stars as Angela, and she is having marital difficulties with Joe (Seth Rogen). When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbours, Hawk (Edward Norton) and Pina (Penélope Cruz) for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places.
This feels like it is a much smaller film than the ambitious Don’t Worry Darling. It is set entirely in one apartment and there are no other cast members. So, the success or otherwise relies on the performances and the script. Thankfully both are mostly spot on. There are probably more genuine laughs than in any other film from this year, and even if the story starts to lag a little eventually, the acting keeps it afloat.
Rogen plays the most relatable character with a gruff charm, Wilde captures her character’s highly strung anxiety, Norton effortlessly switches from charismatic to a little creepy and a seductive Cruz simmers with passion.
Never feeling too stagey, this is an impressive achievement.
Rating: 8 out of 10