The Woman in the Window is a psychological thriller movie directed by Joe Wright and starring Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Fred Hechinger and Wyatt Russell, alongside other cast members.
I remember when I had started reading The Woman in the Window, the sensational thriller by writer AJ Finn. I couldn’t put it down after starting to read it and finished it within 2 days. I was so taken by protagonist Anna’s plight that I had immersed myself in its pages. Later, I found myself remiss without the world of that book.
So, you can bet your bottom dollar that I was beyond excited when I heard that a movie was due to come out. Interestingly enough, however, it was shocking that there wasn’t more fanfare surrounding the movie, considering the star cast and the production. However, after one watch, you realise why.
So, The Woman in the Window follows Anna, a psychologist who is suffering from agoraphobic due to a car accident. Unable to get out of her home, she spends her time drinking and spying on her neighbours. One such fated snoop session results in Anna witnessing the murder of her new neighbour Jane and when the police refuse to believe her, it is up to her to bring the perpetrators to justice.
So, what would my The Woman in the Window review be? Well, it’s boring as all hell. The movie does nothing to bring forward the tension and the suspense that made the book absolutely worth a read. When Jane gets murdered at around the halfway mark, blood splatters on our screen. Unlike how over the top and dramatic the movie wanted to be, that same drama did not transpire to us, the audience.
What transpired in front of us was mellow and lukewarm. No urgency, no immediacy that would make us gasp with Anna as well. Thus, the over the top-ness of the movie helped no one’s purpose other than making the movie very wannabe.
Things just happen in The Woman in the Window. People come over without any prior warning and just leave whenever they want. There’s no rhyme or reason behind anyone doing anything. It just keeps on slugging forward and it does absolutely nothing to your brain. Unfortunately for us, we have to sit through it and watch these amazing actors get entangled in this mess.
The movie’s emotional moments are better though and that’s due to Amy Adams. She’s played many roles and this one, where she must look like she hasn’t left her house for 10 months and is suffering from an insane amount of trauma, feels genuinely heartbreaking. She’s someone who’s trying to make sense of the world around her and what is happening. She, and we, don’t know whether she’s hallucinating (a possibility due to the side effects of the drugs she’s been taking) or whether she actually witnessed something horrible. Her voice shakes when she tries to talk about anything too heavy and when she talks about the accident, there’s a sincerity in her voice that touches you.
Another character that makes the most of her limited screentime is Julianne Moore who is breathtakingly beautiful, fresh and radiant as Jane Russell, or, well, not really her. She’s so bubbly and free that you do question whether Anna imagined her or not.
I wish The Woman in the Window movie’s thriller aspects were as good as its emotional moments. There’s nothing that makes you want to sit up or makes your throat tight. It’s uncomfortable and too easily understood.
Summing up: The Woman in the Window
From a total thriller aspect, The Woman in the Window is a dud. It offers no suspense or need for you to try and investigate what is going on. It doesn’t throw that punch that the original material did. However, the performances and the splendid cinematography do a wonderful job at keeping you somewhat engaged.
The Woman in the Window is streaming on Netlflix.
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