Content Warning: The Woman in the Yard deals with concepts of grief, suicide ideation, and parental struggle.
Since 2005’s House of Wax remake, filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra has alternated between straight horror titles (Orphan), thrillers (Carry-On), and more family-friendly fare (Jungle Cruise; Black Adam). With The Woman in the Yard, written by Sam Stefanak (F is for Family), Collet-Serra merges his horror and thriller for a story that calls its shot well before its third act reveal, yet is no less compelling in the aftermath. Now, via the home release, if revisiting is desired, you can learn about the making of the film and the thought-process behind it via two brief featurettes.
L-R: Danielle Deadwyler as Ramona, Peyton Jackson as Taylor, and Estella Kahiha as Annie in THE WOMAN IN THE YARD, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Photo Credit: Daniel Delgado Jr. / Universal Pictures. © Universal Studios.
After a car accident took the life of her husband David (Russell Hornsby), Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler) finds herself struggling more and more each day to keep life moving for herself and their two children, Taylor and Annie (Peyton Jackson and Estella Kahiha, respectively). One morning, the three wake not just to discover their power being out, but the arrival of a woman (Okwui Okpokwasili) in a veil, clad entirely in black, sitting on a bench in their yard. Unable to get her to leave, the three start keeping watch, resulting in tempers flaring due to the increased sense of helplessness, a sensation that only grows as night comes and, with it, the realization of who the woman is and what she wants. A terror that arises with the simple words “Today’s the day.”
Typically EoM reviews try to keep things spoiler-free, but, as this is a home release review (a late one at that) for a film released several months ago, what follows will include spoilers, which may just incite more to check the film out.
L-R: Director Jaume Collet-Serra and Danielle Deadwyler on the set of THE WOMAN IN THE YARD. Photo Credit: Daniel Delgado Jr. / Universal Pictures. © Universal Studios.
There are two great things going for The Woman and they are Pawel Pogorzelski’s (Midsommar; Nobody) cinematography and Deadwyler’s dedicated performance. The first gives The Woman a paranormal sensation, moving the camera in ways that imply distortion while moving through a completely tangible space. As we learn in eight-minute featurette “Making The Woman in the Yard,” the film was shot on-location on a property in Georgia, the inside decorated precisely to the needs of the psychological thriller; thus, there was freedom to play within and outside the space as needed. Put another way, the cinematography was executed with the intention of supporting Deadwyler’s performance and the realization of what the Woman represents. For instance, in one striking sequence as Ramona goes outside to investigate, each turn of her head results in the camera similarly panning, but, rather than a typical smooth movement, the camera almost swings as if on a pendulum (first to Deadwyler’s left, then right) following the direction of Ramona’s turning head. This choice, though small, not only makes the surrounding space feel elongated, it does so incorporating an unearthly sense. Even before this, and certainly well after, Pogorzelski captures the actors either through reflections or framed as if constrained within the house itself. Discussed in the “Making” featurette, it’s a purposeful choice to support the notion that these three are trapped, constrained in some way, while also hinting at the true nature of what’s occurring around them and it’s a proper horror show.
Okwui Okpokwasili as the Woman in THE WOMAN IN THE YARD, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Photo Credit: Daniel Delgado Jr. / Universal Pictures. © Universal Studios.
Now, based on the premise and setup, something supernatural is absolutely on the table, especially as the Woman starts using shadow magic to manipulate the family dog and objects and to infiltrate the house without leaving the bench she’s appeared with. But the filmmaking is an implication of something else entirely, something not supernatural, but philosophical. While there are certainly various ways to interpret the film in its exploration of depression and suicidal ideation, this being a horror film, my interpretation is thus: we’re not watching the first appearance of the Woman and Ramona’s fight with her, we’re observing a form of psychological torture equivalent to a hell loop. (For context, the Tom Kapinos television series Lucifer utilized the cop-companion procedural as the foundation for a look at theology and family matters in a different way, specifically by having the companion be the literal Devil who operated a Hell powered by each individual’s own guilt which trapped them in a literal loop of their own design.) The film opens and ends with the same dialogue, spoken by Hornsby; there are countless uses of sound as triggers, manifestations of intrusive thoughts implying a desire to harm her children, and the reveal that the Woman is merely a physical manifestation of Ramona’s subconscious desire to end her life which has arrived to help her do it. With all of this evidence (and the fact that at one point Okpokwasili (Master; Madeline’s Madeline) is given makeup that not only makes her face skeletal, but damaged by gunfire around one eye), what we observe is not a woman who fought her demons and won, but someone who is trapped to re-experience the day she gave up over and over again. With this in mind, the entirely of the film takes on a different shape, making the forecasting the film does purposeful, even at the expense of dramatic tension or narrative surprise.
What makes the audience keep leaning in, outside of the cinematography and teased narrative concept, is Deadwyler. Between her work in The Piano Lesson (2024) and 40 Acres (2025), there’s a sense that one doesn’t want to be either be her character’s partner or children’s parent, but, even with the somewhat repetition of basic character foundation, Deadwyler still manages to surprise and devastate the audience. There’s something about the performer that commands the audience to lean in, whether through an external or internal delivery, and we just can’t look away. As she herself discusses in the “Making” featurette, anger is something that’s a response, a reaction to something else, and Deadwyler keeps Ramona’s right on the surface, making each interaction with her children tense, despite trying to maintain appearances. It’s a rolling boil wherein no one knows when they’re going to get burnt, but the overflow leaves its mark on Ramona, Taylor, and Annie equally, supporting the lies that depression tells regarding whether or not someone is actually capable of caring for their children. Even when the film goes hard into the psychological, setting the stage for the final act reveal that Ramona is essentially existing in a mirror world, Deadwyler’s performance is what keeps everything grounded, resulting in terrible heartbreak.
Director Jaume Collet-Serra on the set of THE WOMAN IN THE YARD. Photo Credit: Daniel Delgado Jr. / Universal Pictures. © Universal Studios.
Ensuring that the home-viewing audience has a chance to better understand the Woman, the home edition includes a five-minute “Beneath the Veil” featurette that focuses solely on that character and Okpokwasili as performer. This means we not only hear from Collet-Serra, Deadwyler, and Okpokwasili about the construction of the character and the approach to bringing it to life, we also listen to the makeup team, costume department, and production elements as they all play a significant part to make the disquieting character fully-realized. Frankly, even if one knows what the Woman represents (or realizes it quickly in a first watch), the presentation of the Woman is so thoughtfully put together that one finds themselves quickly in awe.
Danielle Deadwyler as Ramona in THE WOMAN IN THE YARD, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Photo Credit: Universal Pictures. © Universal Studios.
There are many reasons by which The Woman in the Yard (just like any other) may not have done well in theaters and the construction of the narrative is a big part. However, much like other films that play with time and space (such as the brilliant Things Will Be Different), The Woman benefits from knowing the twist so as to dissect the intention behind Collet-Serra and Stefanak’s work. Yes, it’s perhaps a little too esoteric for some and it calls its shot a little too early, yet there’s something about the knowing that makes the film richer and more profound. It could be that Deadwyler brings out a palatable devastation in the realization that her life is nothing like what she expected, that she was already low and on the way out with her husband at the time of their accident, that the only way through is out. These are the lies that depression brings out and that have taken so many parents feeling low when all they needed was proper support. This is what makes The Woman, for all its supernatural, ephemeral aspects, a lingering experience. The truth that courses through it applies to any one of us who’ve had too many bad days, too many moments of feeling trapped in a life that somehow slipped beyond individual control. To that end, The Woman in the Yard possesses a horrifying inevitability that we, the audience, come to recognize quickly — there is no escape for Ramona as she’s doomed to make the same wrong choice over and over.
The Woman in the Yard Special Features:
- Making The Woman in the Yard – Travel through the darkest corners of the film during this behind-the-scenes journey where filmmakers work with cast to craft a story that is both haunting and human. (8:03)
- Beneath the Veil – Cast and filmmakers lift the veil on the film’s frightening figure for this revealing look at the themes, designs, and styles that shape her eerie specter into a powerful presence. (5:02)
Available on digital April 15th, 2025.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD May 27th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Universal Pictures The Woman in the Yard webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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