There’s a downside to the genius of Alfred Hitchcock. You’d never know it; the man practically invented the thriller. The problem is when you’ve seen how well it can be done, you don’t want to settle for less. And all Hitchcock-like films beg for overacting. (ex. “OH NO! MY … SANITY! … BABY! … DOG! … KEYS! … SUBSCRIPTION TO VOGUE!”) And that’s where we are with Amy Adams (!) no less in this Rear Window-inspired project The Woman in the Window.
Dr. Anna Fox (Adams) is an intense agoraphobe. She has built an entire life around not leaving the multistory Manhattan brownstone she owns. That’s quite a feat, huh? The unasked/unanswered question in the film is how a (young) separated woman can afford a four-story multiplex in midtown Manhattan. The film makes a big deal out of feeling sorry for Anna without ever acknowledging what a luxury her situation is.
Anna has deep issues. She’s been through a trauma that displays as mental impairment from time-to-time. She isn’t just afraid of going outside; she’s afraid of life itself. So like a modern-day Nero Wolfe, she has everything come to her, but even then, the odds are she won’t open the door. She likes to wallow in her misery and spy on the neighbors across the street.
And one day, the neighbors visit …first the teen kid Ethan (Fred Hechinger), then the wife Jane (Julianne Moore) … and 
eventually the husband Alistair (Gary Oldman) insisting that the real Jane is Jennifer Jason Leigh. Ummm … ok. Is this a Gaslight situation or what? And exactly how impaired is Dr. Anna Fox? Can we the audience believe her?
Here’s the tough part: if you’ve seen Rear Window, you pretty much know what’s going to happen … and it’s not as good here. And if you haven’t seen Rear Window, well, go watch Rear Window because this is the same film only not as good for several reasons including a WTF? climax.
Gaslighting is a great topic for the current age. It’s all we ever got from Trump and MAGA. So it’s natural that such should bleed into our art. And yet, I still found The Woman in the Window curiously distant. And I think it is because this particular look at gaslighting seems to be an example of one. I actually finished this film thinking, “that ending can’t be right, can it? No way.”
♪Check out that crazy in the window
The one who is counting her hair
Is she a shut-in or a widow?
She subsists on complete despair♫
Rated R, 100 Minutes
Director: Joe Wright
Writer: Tracy Letts
Genre: Remaking Hitchcock
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Thriller fanatics
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Reality fanatics
♪ Parody Inspired by “(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window”
