Shadows on the Wall | The Woman in the Window

The Woman in the Window

dir Joe Wright
scr Tracy Letts
prd Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Anthony Katagas
with Amy Adams, Fred Hechinger, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Jeanine Serralles, Tracy Letts, Anthony Mackie, Mariah Bozeman, Daymien Valentino
release US/UK 14.May.21
21/US Fox 1h40

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With continual references to Hitchcock movies, it's clear that director Joe Wright is aiming for a Rear Window vibe with this churning thriller. The film looks great, awash in shadows and deep colours as it centres on an agoraphobic woman who knows what she's struggling against. While Tracy Letts' script adds smart-sounding touches, Wright ramps up everything with well-worn cinematic trickery. It's over-constructed and underpowered, but enjoyably bonkers.

Holed up in her enormous, underlit New York City brownstone, psychologist Anna (Adams) keeps an eye on the neighbours while undergoing court-mandated therapy with a colleague (Letts). After a new family moves in across the street, she first meets nervous 15-year-old Ethan (Hechinger), then his chatty mother Jane (Moore) and, later, his shifty father Alistair (Oldman). She then begins to notice strange goings-on inside their house, including what looks like a violent murder. In her addled state, she knows she shouldn't believe everything she sees. But she's also sure that she's not crazy.

Side characters add to the clumsily foreshadowing atmospherics, including unexpected appearances by her moody basement tenant David (Russell) and glimpses of her estranged husband and daughter (Mackie and Bozeman). There are also two detectives (Henry and Serralles) who investigate her panicky phone calls. And a woman (Leigh) who can't possibly be who she claims to be. All of these people feed into a tangled web of a plot that gets more than a little histrionic as each person's dark secret comes to light, aided by bravura camerawork and a Herrmann-esque Danny Elfman score.

The powerhouse cast adeptly underplays characters who are hiding things. As usual, Adams brings an open emotionality to Anna's anxiety, even if the script never really grapples with it. The only tonal shift is in her witty interaction with the terrific Moore's sparky Jane. And there's a sharp edge to Anna's maternalistic feelings toward the gifted Hechinger's engaging Ethan. To everyone else, she's a delusional cat lady sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. Which makes them, through Anna's eyes, rather one-note villains.

Aside from some unintended pandemic resonance in the stay-at-home premise, and a moving note about the importance of self-forgiveness, there's very little subtext in this film. This makes it feel thin despite the beefy production values and an all-star cast firing on all cylinders. This style-over-substance approach offers some guilty pleasures even if the plot's twists and revelations are never surprising. And even if the climactic action sequence is less than thrilling.

themes, language, violence 14.May.21

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