«The Woman in the Window» - Movie Review by Kinoafisha
An absurd variation of Hitchcock's "Rear Window".
Dr. Anna Fox (Amy Adams) spends most of her time at home. The woman suffers from agoraphobia, so she does not leave the cozy square meters of her own apartment. Her only outlet becomes observing the residents of the house across the street. In particular, her attention is focused on the Russells - Alister (Gary Oldman), Ethan (Fred Hechinger), and Jane (Julianne Moore) - a neighboring family.
One day, Anna unintentionally becomes a witness to Jane's murder and contacts the police. However, law enforcement officers find no evidence of the incident. Moreover, the Russells accuse Anna of excessive attention towards their family and espionage. The situation becomes even more confusing when the real Jane Russell, who comes to visit Anna, turns out to be a completely different woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) with no resemblance to the previous Jane. Amy Adams' character tries to figure out who is going insane - herself or everyone around her.
The story of "The Woman in the Window" is based on the eponymous novel by Daniel Mallory, published in 2018. It is a rare case when the author sold the film rights two years before the publication of the work. Furthermore, this is the last project of Fox 2000 Pictures, a company known for independent cinema (it was acquired by Walt Disney Studios). Joe Wright's film is a classic example of a long-gestating project that suffered from a series of force majeure factors, as well as the unjustified ambitions of the producer (Scott Rudin, who is now notorious).
The film was actually shot in mid-2018, but then the so-called "production hell" began: Rudin was dissatisfied with the final material, so he hired Tony Gilroy ("The Devil's Advocate", "The Bourne Identity") to extensively rework the screenplay and organize reshoots. Naturally, the project was moved from its original release date in 2019 under the banner of 20th Century Studios. However, difficulties emerged with the film lineup due to the merger of Fox and Walt Disney, causing "The Woman in the Window" to be moved to spring 2020. Then, the pandemic intervened: the film was shifted to summer and eventually sold to Netflix.
The idea of Joe Wright's new work is, to put it mildly, not new. Therefore, to achieve the most vivid exposure of the intrigue that everyone here is trying to hide, talented actors, skillfully distributed suspense, and powerful "Chekhov's guns" that shoot when the audience least expects it, are needed. It seems that the first component is in order: top-notch actors have been invited to the project. Amy Adams, who plays the lead role, makes a great effort to portray an extraordinary personality on screen, teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown. If we consider the intention, the viewer should not really understand until the very end whether everything happening is the product of her imagination or a horrifying reality surrounded by abusers and killers.
Alistair Russell (played by Gary Oldman, who has barely departed from his role as the unfortunate screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz) and David (Wyatt Russell) help maintain this insane, manic-depressive "carnival." David is a tenant in Anna's house and becomes an involuntary participant in the events, revealing an important detail about Jane herself. However, as a whole, the second plan of the film is not developed at all: characters are replaced by one another, and we do not really learn much about their personalities. Moreover, the story itself does not progress for a long time. The permanent state in which the characters remain on screen (mostly forming a crowd around Amy Adams' character) silently accuses her of having an unhealthy psyche, as it seems to them.
"The Woman in the Window," using the foundation laid by Hitchcock's "Rear Window," aims to construct a new script "skeleton" (or rather, a superstructure) of emotional obstruction, psychopathology, and a detective storyline. However, while the introspection into Jane's internal world is somewhat understandable (a mother who abandoned her child due to an inability to provide a good upbringing, etc.), there are questions about Anna's manifestations of phobia and her attempt to portray herself as a skirt-wearing Sherlock Holmes. Likewise, there are questions about the overall screenplay, which leaves no stone unturned from the original story presented in the novel.
Yes, the film is not obligated to adhere to the book, and no one disputes that. However, this "fresh" cinematic interpretation has simply distorted the essence of a rather coherent and logical plot of the original source. Screenwriter Tracy Letts, who also worked on the adaptation of "August: Osage County," presents nothing short of an attempt at a surrealist excursion in the name of David Lynch. But it can still be claimed that owls are not what they seem, as only one person can do so. As they say, "we already have a chief surrealist, and it's not you."
"The Woman in the Window" is the apotheosis of absurdity, a glaring flaw among detective stories, and yet another mediocre project in which, unfortunately, stellar actors find themselves working with such talentless material. However, Netflix subscribers may be enticed by the star-studded cast and intriguing synopsis that promises to unravel an important mystery. This detective thriller can easily compete with the average projects in the Netflix Original lineup for the title of an evening film that can be watched half-heartedly.
