The chickens are dead in their bloodied coop. The dog is gone, too. Is the woman in the yard messing with ‘em? Yep.
A widowed mom and artist, Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler, Till) can’t get past the tragedy she’s experienced. Her husband David (Russell Hornsby, Fences), an architect, has passed, and she lives with that sorrow every day. Mornings start curled up in bed watching a smartphone video with him in happier times. When they got their dream home, a farmhouse in rural Bishop, Georgia. She’s lost in that old memory. Oblivious to present day.
Ramona’s kids are in need. Taylor (Peyton Jackson), her 14-year-old son, tries to be the man of the house to his little sister Annie (Estella Kahiha): “Mom hasn’t really been mom lately, but I’m here.” Ramona’s depression is causing delusions, neglect and forgetfulness. They’re out of dogfood, groceries, their Jeep doesn’t work, and her smartphone isn’t charged. All fixable problems until one day when there’s a power outage and they lose their electricity. Then a mysterious woman (Okwui Okpokwasili; The Exorcist: Believer), draped in black, appears and sits on a chair in the front yard. Uh, oh.
Ramona, on crutches and nursing a severe knee injury, approaches the mystery lady. Asking polite questions in the most attentive way. Her concern is not returned. Scared, Ramona lies and says her husband will be home soon. The woman sees through the ruse. “Your husband’s not coming home,” she chides. The lies are over. A head game is on. The witch moves closer and closer to the house. The family is scared. They should be.
First-time screenwriter Sam Stefanak knows how to set up a horror/thriller. Create the most vulnerable protagonists in the world, then a demon antagonist. Great premise. If horror genre expectations are met, this film will find its audience. That’s his logic and also that of Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, Carry-On), the director who’s quite familiar with the genre. He can creep out an audience but is less deft with freak-me-out horror. There’s some blood, but no onslaught of gore.
That means the pressure is on for sound director Erik Aadahl (A Quiet Place) and Collet-Serra as the VFX supervisor to scare the living daylights out of fright film fans. The former’s work is more calculated and better dispersed than the latter’s. As the chair keeps getting closer to the house, the dread factor ramps up. Credit the jerky, sporadic sounds for fraying nerves. Not the visuals. Not the interloper.
Anyone watching this story unfold will hope that nothing bad happens to this family. But you know it will. Standard ghoul-in-the-house gimmicks would work well here. Give the stranger fangs, pointed ears, bulging eyes—something to distinguish her from humans. Instead, the script decides to make this a mind game. Eerie but not scary enough to make you want to run for the exits, which is the mark of a great horror film.
If the aberration was a leftover from the old farmhouse days gone by, like a slave from the 1800s seeking revenge, or an old tenant settling a score, that would be an accepted genre device. Instead, the storyline becomes more and more internal. Ramona sees reflections of her deep grief. It’s an innovative choice. One that will freak out sophisticated audiences. But a wisdom that might be over the heads of regular genre fans who love bloodletting and violence.
As a director, Collet-Serra is best with the intimate family moments. The power play between Ramona and her teenage son is one that may parents will relate too. That threshold when kids stop listening to “Don’t do that,” and go on their own path, wrong or right. He’s very good at directing children. He also sets and sustains a haunted feel that will stick with audiences. But not in the strongest way. His efforts would have been helped by exhibiting some kind of artistry, but the footage lacks a beguiling visual style (cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski; Midsommar). Though the production design (Marc Fisichella) and costumes (Kurt and Bart) compensate somewhat.
Viewers will love Annie and Taylor because Kahiha and Jackson are so adorable and headstrong, respectively. Hornsby is only in a couple of frames but establishes the dad’s presence quite well. Okpokwasili, as the evil house guest, is a bit too reserved. Too understated. She needed to be evil beyond redemption and create inescapable terror. Needed to look more crazed and less like a Grace Jones clone.
No doubt the director and producers felt very lucky that Deadwyler, who rightfully should have won an Oscar® by now for Till or The Piano Lesson, took this role. She’s excellent as the imperfect mother caught in a soul-wrenching struggle. Bullied by regret. Barely hanging in. Barely managing her kids. Her Ramona has a lesson to learn before she can unburden herself. Deadwyler pulls the audience into her fight for life.
A somewhat respectable horror/drama/thriller that doesn’t truly distinguish itself. Superb sound effects. Deadwyler’s angst is real. Love the isolated, all-Americana location. A weird, haunted, head-spinning aura resonates. Not sheer terror. In that way, The Woman in the Yard messes with your mind. But not enough.
Visit Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.
