The psychological thriller The Woman in the Window is based on the 2018 book bestseller of the same name by Daniel Mallort (pen name AJ Finn). The film adaptation captivates with the finely constructed intricacies of a detective in the style of an “unreliable narrator” story. A not very pretty woman with obvious problems (depression, alcoholism, mental disorders) becomes a defendant in a crime (participant, victim, witness). But because of these very problems, those around her do not believe her. Yes, and she, being not quite in an adequate state, can hardly distinguish reality from fiction: You’re a shrink? That’s a twist!
Screenwriter Tracey Letts made a woman who “looms” in the window of her apartment such a character in Joe Wright’s film. With a camera in hand, Anna Fox watches what is happening across the street – at number 101 on 121st Street. One day, she sees an unknown person stabbing a woman with a kitchen knife. The policemen who arrived at her call are convinced that there was no murder, the owner of the apartment is alive and well. Inspector Norelli is trying to prove to Anna that she invented everything, because she has seen enough of Hitchcock’s thrillers, takes psychotropic drugs and alcohol. He also forces the woman to face the past, from which she stubbornly tries to escape.
Why is the main character spying on the neighbors
What is the meaning of the movie The Woman in the Window. An unusual passion for Anna Fox is associated with the peculiarities of her psyche. A lonely closed woman feels safe only when she perceives what is happening around her from her window. At the slightest contact with the outside world, he is anxious, afraid of free space, cannot stand crowds of people. The only friend is a fluffy cat. Attributes of pastime – a glass of wine, with which she easily drinks pills, and flashing on the TV screen “Windows to the courtyard” or “Charmed”. The recluse occasionally talks to someone on the phone. She is visited by a psychoanalyst who encourages the patient’s observation of someone else’s life. The specialist regards voyeuristic tendencies as a positive sign in Anna’s struggle with agoraphobia.
Seen murder – reality or hallucination of the main character
Anna is familiar with the Russells, in whose house the tragedy occurred. A notorious teenager, Ethan, once went to a neighbor’s house to borrow a DVD from her movie collection. With the boy’s mother, they somehow got into a conversation over a glass of wine. Jane complained that she did not know anyone here (they had recently moved from Boston). Alistair Russell appeared on the threshold of her house with a strange question, did any of his household members visit Anna.
The woman gets the impression that they are not all right. On the Internet, she finds a note that Mr. Russell quit the company in which his assistant Pamela Nazin was killed the day before. From a conversation with Jane, she understands that she is unhappy with the relationship in the family. Ethan gives her the impression of a child suffering from the despotism of his father (once she saw how he hit his son). So when Anna called 911, she was sure that Russell had stabbed his wife.
The tangle of truth and lies unwinds when Alistair is not the killer, and not Jane is the murdered. The man in the hood with a knife is 15-year-old quiet Ethan, who dealt with his biological mother. Drug addict Cathy Melly ran away from her husband eight months pregnant. After two years of searching, the man found her in a brothel in Oregon, took the child and divorced.
Offended by the fact that he is deprived of maternal care, the embittered guy took revenge on other women. In Boston, Ethan dealt with his father’s girlfriend Pamela Nazin. After moving to New York, he saw his next victim in an unsociable neighbor from the house opposite.
Anna’s final encounter with Ethan, as they play a deadly game of cat and mouse on a rain-soaked rooftop, restores the faith of those around (and the audience) in the woman’s sanity. She not only manages to defeat the young villain, but also overcomes a panic attack from agoraphobia.
Who did the main character talk to all the time?
From the first frames of the film, you can hear how a lonely woman is talking to an invisible man. He takes care of her, gives advice not to take drugs along with alcohol. This is the voice of her friend, guide and confidant, whom the viewer does not know until the very end. Who it is – it becomes clear when police officer Little tells Anna that she cannot talk to her family on the phone – her husband and daughter died in an accident nine months ago. In one of Anna’s visions, it was shown that she was driving the crashed car.
Driven by a sense of guilt, unable to survive the bitterness of loss, the woman with the help of self-isolation hid to hide from the family tragedy. And Ed’s native voice was her way of survival. The past lets go when she steps outside the house. By the fact that this time the voice does not answer her, the viewer gets the impression that she has overcome her phobias, fears and illness.
Anna Fox manages to escape her own nightmare only by immersing herself in someone else’s. The “Woman in the Window” gained confidence and strength to move on after proving she was right by reporting a murder at 101 121st Street to the police.
