The Woman in the Window

Between Hillbilly Elegy and The Woman in the Window, Amy Adam's Netflix Leading Lady phase isn't working out too well.

Plagued by a media merger, reshoots, test-audience confusions, and a pandemic, the film had all the odds stacked against it.

A reimagined, covid-era Rear Window stars Amy Adams as a woman who doesn't leave her house and thinks she witnesses a murder. This thriller has an incredible ensemble cast that never seems to be on the same page. Amy Adams delivers another strong performance but the stuffy dialogue and bizarre plot twists don't work. It has so much potential to be a great addition to the psychological thriller genre but it isn't able to figure out what it wants to be.

Director Joe Wright utilizes his camerawork to make the brownstone apartment a claustrophobic environment for both viewers and Adams. It feels reminiscent of David Fincher's Panic Room. Rooms are lit in pinks and blue to depict Adam's episodic cycles of loneliness and mania.

Amy Adams plays Anna Fox, a psychologist who has closed herself off from society. She indulges in food delivery, classic films, and prescription drugs and wine. Her unconventional lifestyle puts her in the role of the unreliable narrator from the very beginning.

It is best to think of the film as a play. In a stable location of the brownstone with a cycle of therapy sessions and a chorus of phone conversations with her ex-husband (Anthony Mackie). Adam plays Anna as both unstable through her cackles and trembles while maintaining a sense of humor and wit.

With the introduction of different characters: the Russel Family, Anna's tenant, and a detective, a mystery is set up with Anna at the center. playing detective Unfortunately the final reveal is a big disappointment. Anna switches between being a stalker and brings on to something in her investigation that just makes it that much harder to watch. It is sad to see her try to sound stable and her actions come from good intentions but don't play well outside of her delusions.

The Woman in the Window builds up to what could be a juicy climax but at the last second hides behind the curtains and turns away from the window.