'The Woman in the Window' Movie Review

Introduction

There is great protection in four walls, but a window creates a way in. When Anna witnesses a murder in her neighbour's house she discovers there is no way out - she must solve the mystery.

Key themes

Anna watches her neighbours through the window.

Anna has a session with her therapist. They discuss her information on the neighbours and her mental state.

New neighbours move in. The son, Ethan, brings Anna a gift and they connect in an odd way.

On Halloween, children throw eggs at Anna's house. Anna struggles to tell them to go away. Against all her anxiety (Anna is an agoraphobic), she manages to open the door and a woman appears in the doorway as Anna blacks out.

Anna wakes up and recognises the woman as Jane, Ethan's mother; who just moved in.

Anna and Jane talk and bond.

Alistair, Ethan's father, comes to Anna's house to find his wife.

Anna hears a scream from the Russell's house. She is worried that Alistair has hurt Jane.

Ethan comes over to tell Anna that everything is fine.

Anna witnesses Jane being stabbed and calls the police.

Detectives show up with Mr Russell who claims that Anna has never met his wife Jane. The real Jane introduces herself. Anna is in disbelief.

Anna researches and tries to find out everything about the Russell's. She watches and takes pictures of them.

Anna calls to Ethan on the street telling him to tell the truth about his mother. Alistair shows up and slaps Ethan. He tells Anna to leave his family alone.

Anna is sent a photo of herself sleeping by an unknown email. Anna calls the police.

The detectives speak with Anna as the Russell's burst in telling the police how crazy Anna is.

Anna tells the detectives that she believes David, her tenant, and Alistair are the culprits in Janes murder and that Alistair abuses Ethan.

Anna is determined to save Ethan from his abusive home and references to her own child, Olivia.

The detectives remind Anna that her family is dead. Anna relieves the last moments with her family.

The detectives leave Anna and dismiss her reports after understanding her situation.

Anna makes a 'goodbye' video and talks to her therapist. Anna wants to be forgiven and to move on.

Anna, unable to move on, looks through pictures on her phone. She comes across a picture she took of her cat with a reflection of Jane.

She shows the picture to David, who tells her that her real name is 'Katie' and she is Ethan's birth mother.

Anna is confused and disbelief. She hears a sound and calls for David.

Ethan appears with a bloody knife and tells Anna about his murders and how he planned to kill Anna easily (as she was suicidal) but her investigation got in the way of things.

Anna and Ethan fight as Ethan attempts to kill Anna. Although Ethan strikes Anna in the face with a gardening fork, Ethan ends up dead after a fall from the ceiling, where Anna pushed him.

The detectives visit Anna in hospital and inform her that the Russell's have been arrested and that she was right about 'Jane'.

Anna leaves her home and begins a fresh start.

Key observations

Why does Anna have a tenant when she is an agoraphobic? She can't go outside and struggles with letting people in; yet she has an stranger living in her basement.

Why was Anna so willing to let Ethan in? Anna watches her neighbours but has never interacted with them - what changed with the Russell's?

What is Anna's relationship with David? At first they seemed very private and kept to their own spaces in the shared house but later on they seemed very involved in each other's business.

Why did Anna identify Katie as 'Jane Russell'? Even if she saw Katie at the Russell's home, Anna watches her neighbours enough to see the actual Jane Russell. So why the misidentification?

How long has Anna been an agoraphobic? Was this phobia trigger by the accident?

Is Anna still a practicing child psychologist?

Who was Anna talking to when she was leaving her home?

What happened to Anna's agoraphobia at the end?

Anna was made to be 'crazy' from the start; her need to 'pop pills' definitely didn't help her case. Later, she is revealed to be stable enough to witness a crime and we see that she is very capable of taking investigations into her own hands. However, Anna is actually mentally unstable. The 'red herring' to make Anna 'seem' likes she's crazy when she is (but not to that extent) did not bring much flavour to the film. It was more confusing and sickening after following that round-a-bout.

Conclusion

'The Woman in the Window' is an a film with a promising storyline that is yet to deliver.

The film is a set around the mystery of Jane Russell and her 'murder'. However, the real mystery is Anna - who is this woman and what is her story. Although there were flashbacks of Anna's past, her current position did not appear to connect in some circumstances. For someone afraid of the outside, she was very comfortable to allow outsiders into her sanctuary. This made Anna a hard-to-understand character.

The 'mystery' of Jane Russell was solved in the least exciting way - David tells Anna the truth about 'Jane' or Katie which he knows because she "wouldn't stop talking". It feels as if we wasted hours investigating the death of a woman, for a side character to tell us the 'scoop'.

Ethan being a psychopathic killer makes no sense and it's hard to tell what influenced his killings. Obviously something was wrong with Ethan by his verbal communication and actions; doubtingly his sweetness was a good trap to cover up his murderous intentions. However, revealing Ethan as the killer was 'surprising' but unpractical. The real mystery in the film is what triggered Ethan to begin killing? Was Katie an influence? Was he driven by abuse?

Overall, the real mystery is how to decode the character's backstories (except for Katie's who was kindly explained by David)

Cast

Amy Adams - Anna

Julianne Moore - Jane/Katie

Fred Hechinger - Ethan

Gary Oldman - Alistair