For the past year we’ve been waiting to see Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, and Bryan Tyree Henry team up for the claustrophobic thriller The Woman in the Window. The movie is adapted from the 2018 novel from A.J. Finn and directed by Pride and Prejudice’s Joe Wright. Now that the movie has landed on Netflix, we can finally talk about the audience consensus for the new streaming release.
Now, originally, The Woman in the Window was set to hit theaters last fall, until the Fox film was delayed (for obvious reasons). It was later removed from the release schedule and announced as a Netflix title, raising some eyebrows. On the critic front, it’s been greatly panned and for the past week, but it has been high on the streamer’s trending movies. With that in mind, let’s take a look at what the social media chatter has been surrounding The Woman in the Window on Netflix.
Overall It’s Mixed, But Some People Really Liked It
Considering all the bad reviews, a lot of people went into The Woman in the Window expecting a disaster, but that’s not what everyone saw. There’s a range of opinions on the movie that we’ll get to throughout this piece, but first we should recognize the true fans of it. Check out this short review:
The Woman in the Window has fans who have read the book before seeing the movie, and by this Twitter user’s measure it was a good adaptation of the novel, which he really dug. He wasn’t the only one, either. Another fan took to social media to not only second the ‘I don’t get the hate’ take, but send some love the way of Amy Adams and Julianne Moore (who will soon co-star in Dear Evan Hansen). So, here you go:
It’s always interesting to watch a movie that is being broken apart as much as The Woman in the Window and not feel like you 're watching the same film as those critical of it. It’s always better when you like a movie, but it can also just be odd when you feel like you didn’t watch the same thing everyone is talking about. As this person shared:
Hey, movies are subjective! That’s the beauty of them. If you liked something someone else hated, congratulations, you have different tastes then that person. Now, let’s dive deeper into the other elements of The Woman in the Window.
It Left A Lot Of People Bored And Confounded
While it’s been established that there are a lot of different opinions here about Amy Adams’ latest role, and there are those who weren’t feeling it due to the tone and structure of the movie. It sits at one hour and 40 minutes and follows an agoraphobic woman and psychologist who spies on her neighbors and reports a crime in their apartment. One viewer made some progress on the movie before taking to social media to ask people if it was even worth it to keep going:
In reply, a lot of people told her it was “a waste of time,” while others referred her to the book instead. It goes to show that the pacing just didn’t grab some people. Another Woman in the Window viewer complained about the stillness of the movie, which involves a lot of Amy Adams nearby a window. If you like people watching, this might be the movie for you, though:
Some people just couldn’t believe what they were watching. One admitted that they felt like they were hallucinating in the back half of the film, and decided to actually watch it again to see if it was real. It sounds like the movie surprised some viewers in a negative way:
How puzzling. It’s comments like this that may have more people pressing play, purely out of curiosity of what goes on in the film.
Punch The Cat Was A Fan-Favorite
Some movies find an unexpected twist in the characters who fans gravitate towards, and on social media one might be surprised to see so many people ditching praise for the all-star cast to write up posts about Amy Adam’s cat in the film, Punch. One viewer wasn’t super impressed with The Woman in the Window, but chose to give a shout out to the white kitty, because praise is given, where praise is deserved:
Another person was ready to send Punch straight to award season with its performance and cuteness:
Considering the movie revolves around Amy Adams’ character in her home as she deals with witnessing a deadly stabbing, Punch serves as an important companion to her throughout the panic. Another viewer couldn’t help but empathize with Punch’s role in the film, as Adams' Anna Fox deals with the disturbing events throughout the movie:
Long live Punch! That looked like a stressful work environment, but we can't wait to follow more of your work.
It Couldn’t Escape Rear Window Comparisons
At the beginning of The Woman in the Window, the movie references Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window with a scene of the movie being shown on a TV. It seems to be tipping its cap off to a movie that must have influenced it. If you’ve seen the classic Hitchcock movie, though, the set up is quite close to this Netflix movie. And, many people on social media were not here for this film borrowing from it:
Some people actually thought The Woman in the Window was supposed to be a Rear Window remake. One viewer called the movie straight up plagiarism while viewing the film, saying this:
It sounds like if you’re a big fan of the ‘60s classic, the movie may rub you the wrong way. It could be noted that the novel’s author, A.J. Finn, was subject to a controversy about aspects of his life, career, and plagiarism, following a report in The New Yorker, that he has since addressed.
Now that you’ve heard what some fans had to say, what did you think? Vote in our poll and check out what’s next for Amy Adams with her upcoming projects, including a sequel for Enchanted!
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