Much in the same way that it took Leonardo DiCaprio five nominations before he finally took home an Oscar, Amy Adams has been nominated six time (SIX!!) and has still not received one of those coveted statues. So when I first saw the trailer for Joe Wright’s psychological thriller, The Woman in the Window, I thought that this might finally be her time.

Unfortunately, initial criticism and reviews made it pretty clear that this was just a pipe dream, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to watch it anyway. Just because it’s not Oscar worthy, it doesn’t mean that it’s not going to be any good.

Amy Adams takes the lead as Dr. Anna Fox, an agoraphobic child psychologist who hasn’t left her home in ten months, following her separation from her husband, Ed, and daughter, Olivia. She copes by popping prescription pills, drinking copious amounts of red wine and spying on her new neighbours, the Russell family.

When she witnesses and reports a murder through the windows across the street, she proves to be a rather unreliable witness and the police don’t believe her, especially considering their is no evidence to back up her claim. Determined to prove what she saw, Anna delves into the lives of the Russell family but the more she digs the more unstable she becomes and soon even she begins to question what is real, what is in her head and who she can trust.

With the UK preparing to come out of the Covid lockdown, the anxiety of leaving the house is something that we can all relate to in some capacity or another, which adds an interesting connection to Adams’ character that may not have been there before. On top of this rather opportune timing, technically the film is well done with the bulk of the film taking place within the confines of Anna’s apartment, and some interesting shot selections that invokes a claustrophobic aura to the film and supports the questionable integrity of Anna’s mindset.

The story itself does feel a little ‘been there, done that’, with many critics comparing it to the Alfred Hitchcock classic Rear Window, and the hubby guessed the film’s ‘twist’ fairly early on. Ultimately, it is the poor script and storytelling that lets this film down and even the star studded line-up can’t save the underdeveloped characters, forcing over-acted performances from typically dependable names such as Julianne Moore and Gary Oldman (who Wright directed to an Oscar win in Darkest Hour).

Credit does need to be given where credit is due, and Adams does deliver a strong and affecting performance, taking what little she has to work with and delivering us a character that is layered and believable. Her humour and caring nature are glimpsed through her interactions with others and we see snippets of who she is underneath the mental and emotional trauma that she is struggling to cope with.

Unfortunately, in this instance the critics were right and, in spite of its star studded cast, The Woman in the Window is little more than a middle of the road thriller that’s not worth leaving the house for.

The Woman in the Window is now available to stream on Netflix.