The Woman in the Window

The Woman in the Window is a 2021 American psychological thriller film directed by Joe Wright from a screenplay by Tracy Letts, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by pseudonymous author A. J. Finn. The film follows an agoraphobic woman (Amy Adams) who begins to spy on her new neighbors (Gary Oldman, Fred Hechinger, and Julianne Moore) and is witness to a crime in their apartment. Anthony Mackie, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, and Jennifer Jason Leigh also star. It was released on May 14, 2021, by Netflix.

Plot
Anna Fox is an agoraphobic child psychologist who finds herself keeping tabs on the picture perfect family across the street through the windows of her New York City brownstone. Her life is turned upside down when she inadvertently witnesses a brutal crime.

Why It Should Be Thrown Out of the Window

 * 1) It almost tried to rip off Rear Window, and so did the story. That was what made the film laughable.
 * 2) Lack of essentials to prove this can be a good thriller. It doesn't even hold you, which makes this movie seem confusing.
 * 3) There are a lot of the hallmarks of classic cursed production.
 * 4) * Those on the list included disastrous test screenings, frantic reshoots, a second writer was taken in way too late, a swirling controversy and a 20th Century Studios frantically selling the film to Netflix.
 * 5) The first act had a bad glimpse.
 * 6) Horrible acting.
 * 7) The scenes are effectively moody as they just offer frustratingly skin-deep chills.
 * 8) Smelly story, as it ticks off the predictable boxes.
 * 9) 20 minutes of mind numbing dialogue.
 * 10) The script tries to derive great thriller movies, but it fails to because it doesn't look like a good one.
 * 11) No character development.
 * 12) One dumb scene in the film was where a kid came out of nowhere and drove Anna in the face with a gardening tool, and then tried to drown her in the rain while she's getting through her fear of the sun.
 * 13) * Don't forget, Anna's chat with her grandma is missed out.
 * 14) The plot was rushed.
 * 15) Poor cinematography.
 * 16) No one in this movie makes an impression of red herrings.
 * 17) Stupid Ending: Anna and Ethan scuffled through the house before ending up on the roof, until Anna decided to push Ethan through a faulty skylight, causing him to fall to his death, and then Anna moves out to focus on her new life.
 * 18) The timing just makes the film worse.
 * 19) Bad direction by Joe Wright, who directed mh:greatestmovies:Darkest Hour, a much better film than this.
 * 20) Because Disney brought 20th Century Fox and renamed it 20th Century Studios, it eventually killed Fox 2000 Pictures for good.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie and Wyatt Russell give pretty good performances.
 * 2) Although it isn`t all that great, the plot twist is at least unique and unexpected.
 * 3) Although the cinematography is mostly poor, there are some areas where it is actually really good. It especially shines in the climatic roof scene.
 * 4) The score by Danny Elfman is good.

Reception
The Woman in the Window holds an approval rating of 26% based on 201 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A milquetoast and muddled thriller that drowns in its frenzied homages, The Woman in the Window will have audiences closing their curtains." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 41 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".