'The Woman in the Yard' Review: A Stellar Cast Elevates a Familiar Horror Premise

Director Jaume Collet-Serra's movie isn't afraid to get mean and, no doubt, will spark a lot of conversation

The Woman in the Yard has one of the more effective horror marketing campaigns out there, from its title that is simultaneously vague and defined, to its eye-catching trailers and the fact that Orphan director Jaume Collet-Serra is behind the camera. One of several forays into the “mad mothers” genre, it often seems like the beats in the movie are so familiar as to make the ending a foregone conclusion from minute one. But what ends up elevating (and saving) The Woman in the Yard is some truly stellar casting that creates a sense of intimacy and warmth in a movie that isn’t afraid to become utterly nihilist.

Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler) is just struggling to make it through the day after losing her husband David (Russell Hornsby) in a car accident. She’s shrugged off most of the parental responsibilities for caring for her young daughter Annie (Estella Kahiha) to her teenage son Taylor (Peyton Jackson). But when a mystery, veiled woman (Okwui Okpokwasili) plunks down in their front yard one day Ramona will have to do to keep her children safe.

We’ve seen this story before: a mother who struggles to get out of bed after suffering a trauma. She’s on edge, angry, and is probably an inch away from going utterly crazy. Sam Stefanak’s script for The Woman in the Yard wears its influences overtly, from movies like The Others to The Changeling. Ramona as a put-upon mother struggling to keep her sanity heavily parallels fantastic horror pieces like The Babadook as well as truly bad features like 2016’s Lights Out. It’s easy to watch five minutes of this movie and start taking bets on what established ending it will go with. However, where it could easily follow those features, the script takes a wide swing with a far darker, and relatable, story about depression and the internal struggle between one’s own mind.

Is Danielle Deadwyler too good for movies like this? You’re damn right. But she brings such a needed gravitas to the film that doesn’t make her untouchable. With her leg in a brace, the result of the car accident that took Ramona’s husband, the audience meets her as temporarily disabled woman seeking strength. Strength to get up and function, strength to not see her kids as a millstone around her neck, strength just to make it to tomorrow. The chronic look of pain and melancholy in Deadwyler’s face is a perpetual state, even after the arrival of the titular woman in the yard.

Collet-Serra wastes no time in getting to what the audience came for and one of the two brightest spots of casting in the film is Okpokwasili as the title character. Tall, intimidating, with cheekbones that could cut glass, Okpokwasili is utterly enigmatic and frightening, whether it’s sitting in a chair or eventually standing up. At the same time, there’s a sense of connection between her and Deadwyler, even before the plotline eventually resolves itself. The character isn’t there as a bogeyman, but more an overwhelming sense of foreboding, existential dread personified (which seems to be a theme in movies this year).

Rounding out the strong acting is young Peyton Jackson as Taylor. An audience surrogate asking the questions everyone else is like “Why don’t we call the police” and generally reiterating that what is happening is not normal, Taylor is also a teenage boy forced into being a caregiver for his sister. He skillfully balances the teen boy angst and antagonism with adult skills. We see the boy cook a full breakfast and generally be a voice of leadership when no one else is. Jackson has such a command of the screen and emotion, along with a great sense of comedic timing. He points a gun at the Woman and threatens to shoot saying, “I’m legally able to do that” sound great before he takes a beat to punctuate it with “I think” under his breath.

The Woman in the Yard’s biggest problem is when it’s forced to explain to the audience what it’s set up. This is where formula ends up being its undoing, though thankfully the brief runtime and strength of the performances never makes anything boring. That being said, to say anything about where the finale goes, or namedrop any specific films, is to completely give away the ending because of how generic it is. Couple that with a few too many fake-outs and the whole thing starts to fall apart. What will be fascinating is hearing how people take the film’s utterly bleak ending which is, weirdly enough, posited as a positive/sacrificing thing.

It’s doubtful you’ll be thinking about The Woman in the Yard within the new few weeks. But the acting from the central cast, especially Peyton Jackson and Okwui Okpokwasili lifts things up. It’s a thriller that, had it gone just a tad meaner, could have been a solid B-thriller. Going in with low expectations and just expecting to be entertained will serve you well.

Grade: C