Anna Fox (Amy Adams) is an agoraphobic shut in. Living in a huge home in Manhattan she sees her therapist once a week, mixes her medication with red wine and watches old films. When a new family move in across the road she believes she witnesses a brutal crime, but when the police investigate there is no evidence. 

The Woman In The Window has massive credentials. Based on a best selling novel from A. J. Finn, directed by the extraordinarily talented Joe Wright perhaps most famous for Darkest Hour and Atonement, with a script from Pulitzer Prize winning writer Tracy Letts and starring Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Wyatt Russell, Bryan Tyree Henry and Anthony Mackie who have 2 Oscars and 13 Oscar nominations between them. 

The plot is very clearly inspired by Rear Window. One of the old films that we see Fox watching in the opening seconds is of course the Hitchcock classic. But there is a lot more going on here. The unreliability of what Fox witnesses is not just down to the fact she is seeing actions from across the street through a window. Fox’s entire mental state is in question. She is separated from her husband Ed (Anthony Mackie) and daughter Olivia (Mariah Bozeman) who she speaks to everyday. The alcohol and medication she takes leaves her in a drowsy and foggy state. She has a lodger in the basement who comes and goes at all hours and the new neighbours appear to have an abusive father figure and abused son. 

Perhaps the thing that most audiences will struggle with here is the tone of the film. It reminded me of another film that I loved but was mostly ignored called Crimson Peak. The acting and staging is histrionic, extravagant and old fashioned. It can be jarring and if you do not adjust your expectations some moments could be unintentionally funny simply because of that tone. 

Adams is a likeable lead that keeps us engaged whilst the other actors play varying levels of over the top to keep us guessing as to what is truly happening. Oldman and Moore in particular seem to be revelling in playing it big. 

Does it live up to the massive credentials mentioned earlier? Probably not. But it is perfectly fine and will keep you entertained for 100 minutes.