Movie; The Woman in the Window (2021) Caution; Spoiler Alert

 

The Woman in the Window

Came out; 2021

Time; 1 hour 40 minutes

Watched in; Netflix

Rating; R for violence and language

IMDB Rating; 5.7/10

Caution; Spoiler Alert

Staring;

Amy Adams as Anna Fox

Fred Hechinger as Ethan Russell

Gary Oldman as Alistair Russell

Julianne Moore as Jane Russel 1 (Katie)

Jennifer Jason Leigh as Jane Russel 2

Wyatt Russell as David

Brian Tyree Henry as Detective Little

Jeanine Serralles as Detective Norelli

Anthony Mackie as Ed

Mariah Nozeman as Olivia

Storyline;

Living in denial, the depressed, pill-popping child psychologist, Anna Fox, has holed herself up in her eerily vacant, ill-lit Manhattan brownstone apartment for the past ten long months, separated from her husband and their eight-year-old daughter. While unsuccessfully grappling with agoraphobia and intense panic attacks, suddenly, the Russells move in across the street, and brimming with curiosity, Anna decides to distract attention away from her problems by peeking into the lives of the unsuspecting new tenants. Then, one night, tensions flare, a deadly kitchen knife gleams in the dim light, and before long, someone ends up dead. Has troubled Anna, indeed, witnessed a gruesome scene of blood-stained domestic violence or is her wine-addled mind playing cruel tricks on her?

Thoughts;

This movie messes with your head. Amy Adams play crazy very well. The entire movie all I kept thinking about was what made her afraid to leave her house.

We learn that Anna watches what goes on in her neighborhood. She starts spying on her new neighbors and quickly figures out something isn't right.

This is a really good movie. Just when you think it's over, it isn't.

Plot Summary; CAUTION; Major Spoiler Alert

Child psychologist Anna Fox (Amy Adams) lives alone in a Manhattan brownstone apartment after becoming separated from her husband Edward; he lives away with their daughter Olivia, but she talks to them on a daily basis. Anna suffers from agoraphobia, and her housebound state leads her to observe all of her neighbours from a second-story window, including the Russell family who have recently moved in across the street. Anna takes a large number of medication and drinks alcohol daily.

One evening, Jane Russell (Julianne Moore) visits Anna and they befriend one another over wine and a game of cards. Ethan (Fred Hechinger), Jane's teenage son, also comes over to introduce himself to Anna, who suggests his father Alistair (Gary Oldman) is often abusive towards his family. One night, Anna witnesses Jane being stabbed to death in the living room. She contacts the police but they do not believe her, claiming everyone in the family is fine. Alistair arrives along with "Jane" (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who, to the shock of Anna, is a different woman to the one she met. She begins spying on the Russell family.

Anna's tenant David (Wyatt Russell) lives downstairs in her basement, and claims he did not hear or see anything from the night the original Jane was supposedly murdered, though Anna later finds her earring in his bedroom and learns David was once in prison and has broken his bail conditions. Anna then receives an anonymous e-mail containing a photo of her sleeping. She contacts the detectives again, who are soon joined by the Russells and David, where she has a nervous breakdown. It is revealed that Edward and Olivia are dead as a result of a car accident that Anna accidentally caused; she is now agoraphobic as a result and her medication causes her to have hallucinations and conversations with people who are not really there.

Anna apologises to the Russell family and admits she was wrong. She stops pursuing her suspicions and later records a video on her cell phone, planning to end her life by suicide by taking an overdose. Anna then discovers a photograph she took on her phone of her cat and, in the reflection of a wine glass, is the original Jane, proving she is real. Anna shows David the photo and he confesses the original Jane she met is a woman named Katie Meli, Ethan's birth mother. Katie had been stalking the Russell family, trying to get close to Ethan, hence why they had to move to Manhattan. David refuses to corroborate Katie's existence to prove Anna's story when he is suddenly attacked by Ethan, who had been lurking in the apartment.

Ethan reveals to Anna that he murdered Katie and is a budding serial killer, having also killed Alistair's secretary in Boston, and says he intends to kill Anna as well. He had been letting himself into her apartment all week with a stolen key, and he was the one who took the photo of her sleeping. Anna attacks Ethan and flees to the apartment roof where they fight until Anna pushes Ethan through the skylight to his death.

As Anna recovers in the hospital, Detective Little states they have arrested Alistair and Jane for helping Ethan cover up Katie's murder. Little admits he watched Anna's video but hands her back her phone to allow her to delete it before she has to return it as evidence. He also sincerely apologises to Anna for not believing her.

Nine months later, Anna, now sober, says her last goodbyes to the apartment and to her late family before she moves out and on with her life.