Peering Through the Window of "The Woman in the Window"

Hello readers and welcome to October!

If you were here last year you already know that this spooky month calls for spooky/thriller/suspense films, and FLIX has brought you just that today! Starting October off with suspense and mystery, our first contender is Joe Wright’s 2021 mystery/thriller The Woman in the Window. A film about an agoraphobic psychologist who see’s something she shouldn’t have through the window of her neighbour’s home, this film has the weirdest storyline that I was not at all prepared for once I started watching the film. To be frank, I didn’t even read the description to know that the protagonist Dr. Anna Fox was an agoraphobe – and having read that online to write this piece for you all now, it does make sense however this still doesn’t fully describe the weird reality you're thrown into for this film! The films saving grace, however? The fact that its timeline happens on and around Halloween (how fitting and unexpected), it has an exceptionally star-studded cast which I also did not anticipate as I didn’t look at the cast prior to watching the film, and that I counted at least five plot twists – which is obviously amazing. So without further a due, let’s get weird and full of suspense!

To kick this off, let’s tackle the storyline and protagonist, Dr. Anna Fox. An agoraphobe as the Merriam-Webster dictionary states is “a person who has an abnormal fear of open or public spaces”. To have agoraphobia is to have an “abnormal fear of being helpless in a situation from which escape may be difficult or embarrassing that it is characterized initially often by a panic or anticipatory anxiety, and finally by the avoidance of open or public spaces”. With that description out of the way, you can probably tell a good deal about what kind of person our protagonist is – a person who is terrified to leave her own house. As the film progresses, just witnessing Anna attempt to leave her house or even open the front door gets super uncomfortable for viewers without such an issue, and just layers on a thick layer of suspense icing throughout the entirety of the film. We come to learn as well that Anna has more issues than just her agoraphobia – issues that might stem from it, but it isn't her only monster and as the story progresses, we discover even more monsters – which takes us to part two of this piece… plot twists!

So as I mentioned above I found this film incredibly uncomfortable to watch, especially because I did not anticipate the story line AT ALL. Luckily The Woman in the Window has a run time of only 1 hour and 40 minutes so you can definitely hunker down and ride it out until the end but, feeling squirmy during that timeframe might be a side effect. What really helped me get through this film were the plot twists. Like every good thriller/mystery/suspense story or film, good plot twists are key and if there are a handful, well that’s just even better! Slightly stacked toward the latter half of the film, your head turns left, then right, then up, then down, and then all the way around by the time the final plot twist appears. So I’m appreciative of the work on the plot twist front because let me tell you, without them this film probably deserves the 21% rating Rotten Tomatoes gave it. I on the other hand would give it at least 60% overall because of the plot twists. And keeping on the path of being caught off guard in a film, I will add that The Woman in the Window has some jump scares here and there which act like sprinkles on this Halloween cake – they’re nothing amazing or exceptionally scary however they are there and will catch you off guard.

All in all, The Woman in the Window is a decent thriller/mystery film one could watch close to Halloween. It’s star-studded cast and plot twists make it a little more interesting than one might originally assume, and its few trippy/swoopy shots and scenes provide a weird and interesting insight some people might appreciate or, feel totally weirded out and uncomfortable by – much like the theme of this film. So sit back, try to relax, and let the Halloween vibes commence through the screen or… window!

What did you think about this film? Leave a comment below and a heart or tip for support!

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