Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: An agoraphobic woman living alone in New York begins spying on her new neighbours, only to witness a disturbing act of violence.
Review: The Woman in the Window is one of those movies that I could easily recommend to people who enjoy thrillers. It is not the deep, thoughtful, well-crafted thrillers filled with nuance and the kind of stellar acting that sticks with you for ages, but the easy to digest, bite-sized kind of thrillers that standard viewers think are more creative than they actually are.
Heavily inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and Rebecca, the setup is a simple one—a woman who is agoraphobic (fear of open spaces, although it’s a bit more complicated than that) and lives alone, except for a tenant in her basement, thinks she’s witnessed a murder. But due to her illness no one believes her, and it reaches a point where she starts doubting herself as well. Amy Adams (also known as the least-developed Lois Lane ever) turns in a very strong performance and I would argue without it, this movie would’ve fallen straight into “Lifetime TV” territory for me. She carries the weight of it all. The drama and the suspense and what I enjoyed most was the way she was respectful to the illness, so it doesn’t just come across like a gimmick.
Another standout performance was that of Gary Oldman as her sus (slang for “shady”) neighbour, Alistair. He commands the room when he’s on screen, which sadly isn’t very frequently. Then again, when has Oldman NOT turned out a memorable performance? Even if the movie is lacklustre, he isn’t, and together with Adams both performers are the best of the bunch. There’s a lot of talented, recognisable faces here (including The Falcon and the Winter Soldier stars Anthony Mackie aka The Falcon, and Wyatt Russell aka the most hated Captain America of all time) and they’re fine, but nothing to write home about.
As I mentioned before the story itself is gonna work for the uninitiated, and by that I mean those viewers who aren’t familiar with films like Rear Window (which is shown playing on the television), Dial M for Murder, and Rebecca. Or if the classics aren’t for you (heathens!) how about The Girl on the Train, Stoker or the pitch perfect Shutter Island?
Yes, for the average movie viewer, The Woman in the Window is going to seem like genre gold. But for those who love a well-crafted thriller (such as myself), this is your average, predictable-to-a-fault (I seriously figured out each and every “secret” long before it was revealed) movie that is somewhat elevated by solid performances and some cool camerawork that draws from Hitchcock films of the past. It’s not a bad movie, just not as smart as it thinks it is.
Sommer’s Score 5.5 out of 10
So what’s your favourite Hitchcock thriller? You can check out more thrilling reviews below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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