A victim of the COVID cinema massacre, The Woman in the Window finally finds a release on Netflix, where it will no doubt find a much bigger, more appreciative audience. Directed by Joe Wright (Darkest Hour) and based on a bestseller by A.J. Finn, it’s a cineliterate piece that doesn’t quite hit the lofty heights that it hopes for but remains an entertaining watch.
Anna (Amy Adams) is a child psychologist who’s suffering from anxiety and agoraphobia. Her only solace is watching classic films, speaking to her estranged husband (Anthony Mackie) and daughter, and watching the neighbourhood go about its business from the windows of her impressively roomy house. Her visiting psychiatrist (played by the film’s screenwriter Tracy Letts) toys with her about her knowledge of everything going on outside without actually experiencing it, and is under the impression she has stopped drinking with her meds – which she hasn’t. A new family moving in opposite heralds terrifying things to come for Anna. The son of the family, Ethan (Fred Hechinger), is a 15-year-old with a strange quality that makes Anna curious to how he’s being treated at home. Mother Jane (Julianne Moore) pays a visit and is equally off-beat. The man of the house, Alistair (Gary Oldman) is a short-fused hothead who wants to keep his family away from Anna. More so when she witnesses Jane being stabbed to death through her window. When it turns out that Jane is still alive (and now played by Jennifer Jason Leigh), Anna’s sanity is brought into doubt.
It’s clear that director Wright embraces the comparisons people will make to Hitchcock’s Rear Window, and also many more noir-esque classics. And yes, we’re presented with the kind of narrative we’ve seen so many times before, but the often stunning cinematography of Bruno Delbonnel (Amélie) keeps things looking fresh, whether it be with some stylish shots of Adams watching TV (although if Ethan thinks Anna has a lot of films, he should come around some of the STARBURST teams’ houses) and dizzying views down the staircases. There’s an overpowering feeling produced when Anna attempts to leave the house and during a scene where she’s confronted by the police, her neighbours, and her lodger (played by Wyatt Russell), which replicates a panic attack a little too closely for comfort. The house is photographed and lit beautifully and the feeling of being ‘trapped’ within its walls is something we can all relate to after this last year.
There are a few things that are too on the nose, though. A couple of examples of ‘Chekhov’s gun’, for example. A number of the ‘surprises’ are obvious too, but are presented well. That said, Amy Adams is top-notch as Anna, showing genuine vulnerability and confusion. Gary Oldman – although not appearing as much as we’d like – is as imposing as we’d expect. While The Woman in the Window isn’t as memorable as the films it pays homage to (we loved the composition of Adams with Salvador Dali’s dream sequence from Hitchcock’s Spellbound), it’s entertaining enough and perhaps more suited for its streaming destination than fighting for attention on the big screen, where it could have been a disappointment.
Where to watch: Netflix
