The Guest House

Plot

Rachel is a rebellious 18-year-old musician who lives with her father, Frank, at their Los Angeles home. Before leaving on a business trip one morning, her father informs her that his new employee, a recent college graduate named Amy, will be coming to stay in their guest house for a few days while she gets settled. Amy arrives and Rachel, lonely and still affected by the death of her mother, feels drawn to Amy. Over the course of the weekend, the two women spend much time together and become close. Eventually they become lovers. When Frank returns, he is shocked to find them in bed together and lashes out at both of them. To Rachel's shock, it is revealed that her father and Amy slept with each other. Disgusted and feeling betrayed, Rachel breaks off their relationship.

Some time later, Rachel performs a show at a small club in San Francisco. Afterwards, she exits and finds Amy waiting outside. The two reconcile and decide to pursue their relationship further.

Cast

Production

Madeline Merritt originally read for the role of Rachel before being cast as Amy. Neither she nor Reynolds had portrayed a lesbian character on screen prior to this film, though Merritt had previously starred in a stage production of Boston Marriage while at university. Reynolds found that their experience on-set mirrored that of their characters, saying, "It was a challenge because we are considered straight, so it was kind of cool to find out how comfortable it was to be with someone of the same gender...even though its something that’s completely new. So aside from our characters, we discovered it in real life as well". The two women became friends during filming. Merritt recalled, "When Ruth and I had callbacks, we read together and we just clicked. The chemistry and connection were just there: it wasn't something we had to work at, we really played well off of each other from the start." Reynolds also relished the opportunity to play a musician.

Critical response

The Guest House received mixed reviews from critics. Writing for AfterEllen, Danielle Riendeau summed up her review by saying: "Guest House is largely a fun piece of fluff, with attractive leads and a fun premise, but the film is far, far too chatty for its own good. The writing is spotty, with a few clunky lines, and the final third dives far into melodramatic territory." However, she also noted the "fantastic chemistry between Reynolds and Merritt" and found the love scenes "decidedly hot". Dora Mortimer gave the film a negative review for Diva magazine and found that it lacked authenticity, saying: "If you're looking for a lesbian film – hunt elsewhere. This film's only claim to LGBT issues is having two very femmey members of the same sex feign interest in each other. It is written and directed by a man and it shows." Lauren Shiro of Curve magazine was much more positive, saying: "The Guest House is a cute, fun, and highly enjoyable movie. This is a perfect light-hearted, feel good movie for fun weekend entertainment."

Ruth Reynolds won the Rising Star Award at the Melbourne Independent Film Festival for her role in the film.

Home media

The Guest House is distributed by Wolfe Releasing in the United States, and by Peccadillo Pictures in the United Kingdom.