The Woman in the Yard

A slow-burning psychological horror that lingers in the mind long after it ends. I've been a fan of Jaume Collet-Serra's horror movies (Orphan and House of Wax) for a while, mostly for the their over-the-top scares. Here he crafts a quiet, creeping dread as Ramona (the fantastic Danielle Deadwyler), grieving her husband's death and immobilized by a broken leg, watches an ominous woman inch closer to her isolated farmhouse. Subtle visual storytelling replaces exposition, with deep-focus shots and eerie sound design immersing us in Ramona's unraveling psyche. The film methodically builds tension through whispered horror before plunging into full-blown terror in its final act, recontextualizing everything with a surreal climax. Not every theme fully locks into place, but its haunting atmosphere and layered symbolism make it a compelling, rewatchable experience I didn't expect from this studio.

6.5/10.

I can't say I was impressed by The Woman In The Yard. It starts promising, a bit intriguing and mysterious but then it just went downhill. Weak writing was the major cause for a failed horror movie. The acting from the very small cast was okay though, nothing bad to write about them, but the plot just didn't help to save this movie. I'm not going to go into details as I don't want to spoil the story for future viewers but there were just things that didn't make any sense at all and that's why this wasn't a good movie. A bit boring as well at one point. I wouldn't waste my time with this one if I were you.

A very straight forward title to a film that is a little too convoluted story wise. What starts as an interesting story about a broken family falls into a mundane plot that is saved by its third act. There are true elements of horror here, Okwui Okpokwasili plays the mysterious woman to an expert degree, and she truly carries the movie. The middle act of the film becomes a "trapped in a house" survival horror and this is where the plot really grinds to a halt.

The movie is saved by its resolution that has an interesting take on mental health, and an ending that is "open-ended" enough to keep you guessing on what exactly happened.

This movie will scare you. That's for sure. But there isn't much to talk about with this movie. Because the plot is so bad that a 10 year old would have wrote better. Pretty much all you will get out of this movie is being scared. But the ending, as well as pretty much everything else besides being scared, falls short. This movie would have been better if it was 1 hour. It was 30 minutes too long. If you're ready to be bored for 30 minutes and then feel scared and bored for an hour, then come see this movie. The only reason I didn't rate this a 3 is because it's actually scary. And that's all it is, scary.

Jaume Collet-Serra may not be a perfect director but I have enjoyed his fun popcorn flicks like The Shallows, The Commuter and underrated horror Orphan. While it's messy script and structure does suffer from uneven directions and tone, it's interesting concept and solid thrills offer a good fun horror movie.

Placed with some interesting themes and good camerawork, the slow-burn tension and atmosphere does offer some good build up throughout. Including sound designs and colors used throughout. I do wish the writing does explore some different territories and ways, especially it's third act being pretty rough. Undoubtably, the concept was pretty interesting. Once again, Danielle Deadwyler shines with a strong performance and keeps the characters somewhat interesting, even if it doesn't always work.

For 87 minutes, the movie does feel as if it would work as a short film or a short episode. But as a whole, it's a decent horror flick.