The Woman in the Window – Solid Mystery
Director: Joe Wright
Writer: Tracy Letts (Screenplay) A.J. Finn (Novel)
Starring: Amy Adams, Fred Hechinger, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Anthony Mackie
Plot: An agoraphobic woman living alone in New York begins spying on her new neighbors, only to witness a disturbing act of violence.
Tagline – She has nothing to prove but what’s real
Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Woman in the Window starts as an agoraphobic woman Anna Fox (Adams) sees her new neighbours move in, the Russell family, Alistair (Oldman) Jane (Moore) and son Ethan (Hechinger) who Anna befriends, believing he might be in danger.
After Anna believes she hears violence from across the street, she starts to believe something happened, but it this in her head, or was a violent crime committed.
Thoughts on The Woman in the Window
Characters & Performances – Anna Fox is an agoraphobic woman that works from her New York apartment building, she watches over her neighbours, with the new neighbours grabbing her attention, offering her a chance to make a new friend. After hearing an incident from across the street, she believes that she has heard a murder, only she will need to tackle her own problems to learn the truth about what is really happening. Anna often finds herself needing to battle her own sanity and fight her own battle to get through each day. Amy Adams is the strongest part of the acting in this film, but when isn’t she, let’s be honest. The Russell family move in across the street, with the son Ethan looking to advice, Alistair having a short temper and Jane being the one that drank with Anna. The family does become the obsession of Anna’s life as she believes something criminal is going on within the home. The actors in these roles are all solid in the film, with the big names like Gary Oldman, Julianna Moore and Jennifer Jason Leigh along with newcomer Fred Hechinger all doing everything they need to. We do get a couple of detectives Little and Norelli that get bought into trying to figure out the truth, while the tenant David has a darker past who is always around to make sure Anna is safe.
Story – The story here follows a woman that is trying to figure out whether her knew neighbours have committed a murder, only for the truth about her own past leaving her in a confliction about just what is really going on. This is a film that is trying to capture the Rear Window magic of spying on a neighbour and never being sure what they saw or heard, believing a crime has been committed, while on paper this is a simple enough story to pull off, only this one goes for a big twist filled story that wants to play on the words said within the film, before turning into a very different movie by the end of the film. The story does seem to get too complicated and in what is a shocking final act, will only leaving you wondering what the hell just happened.
Themes – The Woman in the Window is a mystery thriller that does offer up a big mystery, but does end up spending more time showing Anna about her own life, rather than looking into clues about what really happened. The location is kept within the apartment in New York City, which will help us have the contained feeling that Anna can’t just get help about what happened.
The Woman in the Window is a mystery that turns the target of what we are meant to be investigating towards the less important side of the story.
