In some ways, it's not the studios fault. They had an extremely rocky road to Netflix where the film premiered on the streaming site. After months in post-production and delayed for over a year due to the COVID pandemic, “The Woman in the Window” has finally hit our screens, debuting on the giant streaming site this weekend after a long series of roadblocks.
Trailer:
Remember “A Girl on the Train” that came out in 2016? Starring Emily Blunt, Luke Evans and Justin Theroux, the movie is based on the best-selling book of the same name where the main character witnesses a murder from the train car. The movie hit theaters in 2016, just one year after the book hit shelves. While the book was an instant best-seller, the story-telling and pacing in the film was inconsistent, messy and confusing for viewers who came in with no prior knowledge of the book. “The Woman in the Window” suffers from the same adaption challenges and tropes, but for different reasons.
“The Woman in the Window” follows recluse and agoraphobic, Anna Fox (Amy Adams), who lives in alone in her town-home in New York. For reasons unknown, but due to deep-seeded trauma in her past, she is unable to step outside or leave her home. Confined to the inside of her house, Anna Fox passes her time by drinking wine, mixing alcohol with her prescription anxiety medication (whoops) and spying on her neighbors. It isn’t until a night where she sees a vicious and violent attack across the street that she calls the authorities, citing that her neighbor’s wife is dead. The only problem? She’s not and she arrives in person to tell the police that she is alive. So, who was murdered?
It’s a great plot, full of twists and turns that keep the * reader * invested. When I read this book back in 2015, I even gasped aloud as the plot hits the climax and reveals the creepy twist. The problem was, the shock and thrill didn’t come alive as clearly on screen. And honestly, it’s hard to show it.
We are dealing with an unreliable narrator and we spend most of the movie in her point of view, which means, she doesn’t leave the house. The one set shoot is hard to follow and can become a little mundane at times, all leading to the unfulfilling ending. In movies that take place in very few locations, good storytellers use the house or place to become another character in the book. The house remains pretty un-interesting to look at and be in after the long hour-and forty minute run time. And the lack of flashbacks or other geographical locations seem to suffocate the movie.
What is truly astounding for me is that even with a stacked cast full of Hollywood's best, the movie was also directed by Academy-Award Winning Director, Joe Wright. Wright has directed some of the most beloved films over the past two decades from "Pride & Prejudice" to "Atonement." This film is most definitely a miss among his solid and credited career.
Amy Adams herself has also hit a series of slumps in the past few years. Her latest projects including "The Woman in the Window" and 2020's "Hillbilly Elegy" have been ill-received by audiences and critics alike. Even with many Oscar nominations, yet no wins, I still have hope for her career to come back on track. Do not lose hope in Amy Adam's stock yet!
While the movie fell flat for me, it did hit its own series of delays that prevented marketing around the plot. After months in post-production in 2019, never a good sign as it generally means the final product wasn’t good and they have to go back and edit, it was delayed an entire year due to the pandemic. Originally planning to hit in theaters in May 2020, the 20th Century Studios was forced to abandon hope and ended up selling to Netflix for streaming rights.
It’s an entertaining movie with some good performances, but it sadly succumbs to the trope “the book was better” ideology.
"The Woman in the Window" is available to stream May 14th on Netflix.
Movie Score: 5.5/10
And that’s the sitch.
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