The Woman in the Window

The Woman in the Window | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix

A well done but annoying thriller. I suspect it was only annoying because I have watched too many shows with too many of the same elements. We've got crazy people, though only a couple, but it's a movie, not an umpteen part series, so we don't have time to go hog wild. One is the woman in the title, and she's a harmless kind of crazy. The other is an apparent innocuous guy who is actually a psychopathic killer.

The show is kind of a cross between Rear Window and Panic Room with Jody Foster. Like Rear Window, our protagonist is confined to her house and sees weird stuff happening at the neighbor's and nobody believes her. Like Panic Room, we have a rich woman, living alone, in a expensive five story brownstone on the upper west side of Manhattan, and shit happens. In Jody's case she is dealing with criminals who, while evil, are at least rational. Cat lady Anna is pretty screwed up, hallucinating, seeing a psychiatrist, eating all kinds of pills.

The annoying parts? Anna gets startled way too often, and half the time she breaks a glass. Admittedly, it's a spooky old house, there is weird stuff going on and she is definitely a little flakey. Another are the conversations that slide right past the important parts. Ask the question, dang it. And then there is the climatic fight scene. The guy is down, pick up the knife you twit. Even if you don't finish him off, at least pick up the friggin' knife. And then he chases her up onto the roof. Why do they always run up the stairs? Why don't they lock the doors? Yeah, I know, it would spoil the chase scene. But then he knocks her down and instead of finishing her off, he disappears. WTF? Okay, he's a lunatic, and he just got a big thump in the head, but he managed to get this far. What's stopping him now? Whatever, gives Anna a chance and she makes the most of it.

The New Yorker has a review.