☆☆☆☆☆ 2.5/5
Genre : Thriller; Mystery
Director : Joe Wright
Platform : Netflix
The Woman in the Window is a movie I have been eagerly waiting to watch. Due to pandemic its release date got pushed and now I finally got the chance to watch it. Nevertheless, my expectations have been shattered.
Anna is agoraphobic, usually stays inside her home and keeps tabs on her neighbours. She gets involved with the newly arrived Russell family and one day witnesses the murder of the wife (Jane Russell). Anna gets obsessed in solving the mystery behind this murder.
A person stalking their neighbours only to find a murder/murderer, isn’t a new concept. The movie takes all the cliché thriller scenarios and weave it together. While I knew about the common thriller themes in the movie after watching the trailers, I was optimistic that the director would sew the elements into a twisted tale, which they didn’t.
I wished the character of Jane Russell was written better. Initially when Anna asks Jane some personal questions, she doesn’t have a reasonable answer or she doesn’t respond at all. The conversation is made to make us feel suspicious about this character. But I found this conversation boring. Even the scene where Jane gets stabbed is uninteresting.
As it also has a psychological element, there are many surreal scenes. As Anna drinks wine and contemplates on the incidents, she sees Jane and herself sitting on the table. Anna also finds an overturned car in her drawing room. The scenes test our patience.
Moreover, Anna constantly senses presence of somebody in her house. Anna is always sceptical. She gets scared when her cat goes missing, when her tenant comes unannounced or when the door behind her closes. Seriously? The director puts all his effort to add an extra pinch of creepiness and it fails miserably.
The end is action packed, gory and has a big revelation. The revelation is mediocre and not surprising. If you are planning to watch this movie, skip it. I would recommend you to watch Intruders(2016).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_0GJg_Jnlo
Also read:
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Young Royals Review: An intense yet light-hearted royal queer love story.
An Indian reviewer who writes about horror and thriller movies/series. If not movies, he likes to pick up a mystery book to read. Some of his favourite movies/series include Stranger Things, Elite (S1-3), Train to Busan, Andhadhun, Strangers: Prey at Night.