"The Woman in the Yard": Film Review (with Spoilers)
- Dualia
- Apr 27
- 3 min read
On March 27, 2025, Skarekr0e and I went to the local theatre premiere of "The Woman in the Yard," a day before it was even scheduled to be released somehow, a PG13 psychological horror film written by Sam Stefanak and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. With a history that includes known pieces like "House of Wax" (2005), "Orphan" (2009), and "The Shallows" (2016), Collet-Serra's latest offering promises a chilling experience. In this blog post, we look closely at this new project in a world of shadows with lots of details and spoilers.
"The Woman in the Yard": Synopsis
"The Woman in the Yard" transports us into the grief-filled, hopeless world of Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler), a mother of two children (Peyton Jackson, Estella Kahiha) who is coping with the tragic loss of her husband (Russell Hornsby). Trapped on a remote farm with a broken leg after the accident that took away her partner, she lives with little will, leaving many of her responsibilities to her eldest son.
The movie follows when the bit of peace she had is spoiled by a mysterious woman dressed in black (Okwui Okpokwasili) who watches them silently from the yard. As Ramona's and the family's patience vanishes, and the discomfort for the stranger's appearance rises, the truth behind the woman in black starts unravelling and we discover that the reason for its appearance is darker than it seems.
Performances, ambience and direction:
Danielle Deadwyler's performance as a widow is emotional and easy to empathize with. She effortlessly portrays Ramona's suffering, depicting her hopeless world and sharing her loss and grief. The primary sensations of terror are generated using the desolate setting and the mysterious woman to create tension. During the movie, there are many highlights to pay attention to that are important at the end, like the letter R being written backwards. Collet-Serra's work creates a palpable sense of dread in the family home, which becomes the primary and almost only setting of the film.
Deep dive and unexpected Spoilers:
Like anyone else, I looked up the film's trailer before watching the movie, and unfortunately, this film spoiled itself by revealing a significant portion of the narrative, leaving the first two-thirds predictable, which, maybe even without watching the trailer, carries on for way too long and becomes a little tedious.
The truth about the woman in the yard is revealed in the film's final act, where we discover that she was a manifestation of Ramona's death wish.
The final act represents all of Ramona's thoughts and how the woman in the yard might be a deep rooted manifestation of her mind who is trying to help herself put an end to her suffering. The movie utilizes abstract views and symbolism to represent the state of Ramona's mental deterioration.
The ending is vague, leaving much to interpretation. After sending her children away to ask the neighbour for help, Ramona and the shadow woman have an intense conversation, suggesting an act of self-destruction. The film blurs the lines between supernatural horror and psychological drama, leaving the audience to ponder what the actual events are and making us believe she might go through with her death wish, as the accentuation of the inverse letter R can show us that Ramona is in or headed to the shadow world, ending in the conclusion that she might succced in ending her pain.
Ratings and audience critics:
From different sources we have found the following ratings for this movie:
Rotten Tomatoes: 44%Tomatometer
Rotten Tomatoes: 47%Popcornmeter
Metacritic: 51%
IMDb: 5.6/10
Critics and audience reception is mixed. The film's first two acts and the exposition of too many moments from the movie trailer might have contributed to this. Anyway, I can say that it offers some moments of genuine impact.
"The Woman in the Yard", while having entertaining moments, definitely has some flaws in the story. While it doesn't break new ground in the horror genre, the offer of an exploration of grief and mental health ensures a chilling and memorable experience. I personally enjoy the end of the movie and the tragic moments of self-destruction, but it is not becoming a part of my top movies list nor does it have much re-watch value.
If you are interested in more movie reviews you can take a look at our youtube channel where, with Skarekr0e, we dive deep down into some other horror movies. This was Dualia and we will see you in the next blog post.
Comments