The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window | |
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Genre | |
Created by | Rachel Ramras & Hugh Davidson & Larry Dorf |
Directed by | Michael Lehmann |
Starring |
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Music by | Nami Melumad |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 8 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Danielle Weinstock |
Cinematography | John W. Lindley |
Editors |
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Running time | 22–29 minutes |
Production companies |
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Distributor | Netflix |
Release | |
Original network | Netflix |
Original release | January 28, 2022 |
The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window (originally titled The Woman in the House) is an American miniseries created by Rachel Ramras, Hugh Davidson, and Larry Dorf. Kristen Bell, Michael Ealy, Tom Riley, Mary Holland, Cameron Britton, and Samsara Yett star in the series, which has elements of the dark comedy and thriller genres, but is primarily a parody of mystery psychological thrillers. The eight-episode series runs less than four hours and was released on January 28, 2022, on Netflix. It received mixed reviews from critics, while Bell's performance was praised.
A heartbroken woman named Anna (Kristen Bell) is unsure of whether or not she witnessed a murder. She mixes alcohol with medications prescribed by her therapist, has frequent hallucinations, and suffers from a crippling fear of the rain (ombrophobia). Anna is ostracized by members of her community, including her new neighbors, and labeled "crazy" by the police. Regardless of whether or not she saw a murder take place, Anna takes it upon herself to find the truth.[1]
Additionally, Appy Pratt appears as Elizabeth, Anna's 8-year-old daughter who died in 2018, Brendan Jennings as Massacre Mike, a cannibalistic serial killer who murdered Elizabeth,[5][15] Janina Gavankar as Meredith, Neil's wife who died a few months before he moved in across from Anna, Nitya Vidyasagar as Hillary, Meredith's sister, Nicole Pulliam as Claire, Douglas's coworker, and Lyndon Smith as Ms. Patrick, the murdered teacher.[12][17] Jim Rash and Glenn Close have cameo roles in the final episode as a flight attendant and the woman in seat 2A on the flight, respectively.[18]
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
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1 | "Episode 1" | Michael Lehmann | Rachel Ramras & Hugh Davidson & Larry Dorf | January 28, 2022 | |
Anna, a divorced woman in Canterbury Hill, hears strange voices in her house coming from the attic, making her believe in the existence of monsters. She often breaks chicken casserole dishes which she prepares, and passes out drunk on her sofa. One morning, from her window, she sees her handsome new neighbor, Neil, taking his daughter Emma to school. As Anna hallucinates the existence of her dead daughter, Elizabeth, she goes to school herself with an intention to drop Elizabeth there. She stands up a blind date arranged for her by her neighbor, Carol, and visits Elizabeth's grave to talk about her new neighbors, where the headstone reads, "If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever". Next day, Emma sells some chocolates to Anna. Neil finds out Anna has an irrational fear of rain when he helps her after she fainted; she hallucinates having sex with him. The next day, she grows close to them when they offer her dinner. | |||||
2 | "Episode 2" | Michael Lehmann | Rachel Ramras & Hugh Davidson & Larry Dorf | January 28, 2022 | |
Anna is surprised and upset on seeing Neil's girlfriend, Lisa. Anna's therapist urges her on the telephone to stop taking pills with wine, but she ignores this; she reveals that Elizabeth was murdered and eaten by a prisoner when her then husband, Douglas, took their daughter to an investigation in a jail, three years ago. Anna's friend, Sloane, suggests she should start painting again for Sloane's art gallery. Anna tries to paint but then rips the painting with her palette knife, with which she also scares Carol whom she has overheard talking about her addictions. Anna visits Elizabeth's grave as she feels upset; the headstone now reads, "In Heaven you can dance like no one's watching". Anna stalks Lisa's Instagram, she believes Lisa has been cheating on Neil with another guy, Rex, whom Anna adds with her alternate profile having her fresh selfies in lingerie. Soon after, from her window, Anna witnesses the murder of Lisa in Neil's house across the street. Anna tries to rush to Lisa's aid, but faints in the rain. | |||||
3 | "Episode 3" | Michael Lehmann | Rachel Ramras & Hugh Davidson & Larry Dorf | January 28, 2022 | |
Upon regaining consciousness, Anna learns from Detective Lane, who had responded to her 911 call, that there is no evidence of any murder. Undeterred, Anna tries to solve the mystery herself and breaks into Neil's house where she finds one of Lisa's earrings. Neil discovers Anna and orders her to stay away, claiming that Lisa, a stewardess, has left for Seattle, as he shows Lisa's texts. Despite Neil becoming aware of Anna's drinking and hallucination problems, Emma sells chocolates to Anna who offers Emma a good relationship. Anna joins a support group at Sloane's suggestion, but finds out at the airport that Lisa's airline does not currently fly to Seattle. She reports her findings to Lane who still does not believe her. Lane reveals that she had been a junior detective in the "Massacre Mike" case, involving the same prisoner accused of killing and eating people; Lane regrets not killing him then before Elizabeth became his victim. Anna receives a death threat, "Stop or UR next". While continuing her suspicions about Neil, she uses Douglas's FBI credentials to find profiles of Lisa and Rex. | |||||
4 | "Episode 4" | Michael Lehmann | Rachel Ramras & Hugh Davidson & Larry Dorf | January 28, 2022 | |
As Anna examines Neil's past, she learns that he was a suspect in the drowning of his wife Meredith, but that he was cleared. Anna visits Meredith's sister, Hillary, in Middlebury. She learns that Emma's teacher, Ms. Patrick, died on a school field trip at a lighthouse, 12 days after Meredith's death. Anna then visits the school and the lighthouse to inquire and comes to know that Neil chaperoned that trip, causing Anna's suspicions to further grow. Upon returning, Anna sees a babysitter at Neil's house when he leaves with a large bag. Suspecting that the bag contains Lisa's body, she follows him. However, upon catching Anna, Neil reveals to her that he is a ventriloquist; he requests her to keep it a secret and clear her suspicions about him. Returning home, she gets a call from the FBI with information about Rex, but suddenly, Rex appears at her house. | |||||
5 | "Episode 5" | Michael Lehmann | Rachel Ramras & Hugh Davidson & Larry Dorf | January 28, 2022 | |
Rex tries to threaten Anna and forces her to text her husband to run an errand to delay his arrival. However, Anna wants an explanation from Rex; Rex reveals that Lisa, known to him as Chastity, was actually a bartender at the club where he worked as a stripper. Chastity recruited Rex into a plan to defraud wealthy men; Neil, a wealthy widower, was their latest target. Rex tried to back off upon learning that Neil has a daughter, but Chastity threatened to pin the con on him before abruptly cutting off contact, making him suspect Anna's involvement. Meanwhile, Lane issues Anna a restraining order from Neil, and Douglas arrives worried about Anna. Anna, however, does not tell them about Rex and sees a woman in Douglas's car. After Anna reveals her divorce to Rex, the two feel sympathy for each other and sleep together. Meanwhile, Chastity's body has been found in pieces. | |||||
6 | "Episode 6" | Michael Lehmann | Rachel Ramras & Hugh Davidson & Larry Dorf | January 28, 2022 | |
The next morning, the police arrest Rex for Chastity's murder. He insists on his innocence but Lane plays Anna a wiretapped recording in which Rex had threatened Chastity to kill her. Horrified, Anna tries to turn over a new leaf and drains off all of her wine and pills. She enjoys a manicure-pedicure with Sloane, who is being considered for a job at an art gallery in SoHo. Anna applies dressing on an injured Buell's wound, before visiting Elizabeth's grave on her birthday, where the stone now reads "There is no 'I' in Heaven". There, she finds a birthday card from Douglas and meets Neil and Emma, who have just attended Chastity's funeral. Back at home, Anna starts to paint but is interrupted by Lane, who reveals that Rex has been released after the police found the murder weapon — a palette knife identical to the kind Anna uses. The police search the house and find a portrait of Anna, Emma, and Neil labeled "The Perfect Family", which Anna does not remember painting, so she is arrested. | |||||
7 | "Episode 7" | Michael Lehmann | Rachel Ramras & Hugh Davidson & Larry Dorf | January 28, 2022 | |
In jail, Lane interrogates Anna for killing Chastity, which Anna does not remember doing. Anna shares her history as a starving artist who found success after painting her dog as Mona Lisa, so she began painting other people's dogs into masterpieces. During her pregnancy, while confined to bed rest for three months, Douglas hired Buell to build a custom easel for her, and she started painting flower bouquets. After Anna's fingerprints are matched with those on the palette knife, she hallucinates stabbing Lisa and dreams of Douglas's second marriage to the woman she saw earlier with Douglas. The next day, Sloane pays Anna's bail with a US$500,000 loan. However, Neil threatens Anna to stay away. Sad, Anna calls her therapist, who is revealed to actually be Douglas, while she was going in her attic. There, she discovers a ripped painting of Chastity and a whole living area; she realizes that Buell, who has been living there, could have murdered Chastity. Anna, from the window, sees Buell in possession of a claw hammer moving towards Neil's house. | |||||
8 | "Episode 8" | Michael Lehmann | Rachel Ramras & Hugh Davidson & Larry Dorf | January 28, 2022 | |
Rushing behind Buell to save Emma, Anna struggles with her fear in the rain; instead, she finds a severely wounded Buell and Neil's dead body. Shocked, Anna now becomes Emma's target as Emma reveals that she stabbed her father over disliking his ventriloquism. She stabbed Lisa over not supporting chocolates, framing Anna. She also killed her pregnant mother and her angry teacher; she does not want a sibling. After a bloody fight, Anna kills Emma in self-defense and Douglas arrives. At the hospital, Lane and Carol apologize to Anna for not believing her. Days later, Anna allows Buell, who survived, to continue living in her attic. Sloane hosts a successful exhibition and receives a job offer from New York. Douglas and Anna are reconciled in the rain, as he buys her painting and she has overcome her fear of rain. One year later, Anna, who has a newborn daughter with Douglas, is aboard a flight to New York to visit Sloane. She finds an apparently dead woman on the flight; the steward claims there has been no one as the body vanishes, leaving Anna to delve into another mystery. |
On October 20, 2020, Netflix gave the production a limited series order consisting of eight episodes.[1] The miniseries is created by Rachel Ramras, Hugh Davidson, and Larry Dorf and executive produced by Kristen Bell (who also stars), Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, and Brittney Segal. Gloria Sanchez Productions is involved with producing the miniseries.[19][20] The creators had to cancel different ideas in their drafts for getting a comfortable shoot during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ferrel was supervising them online through Zoom conversation.[21]
On February 19, 2021, Tom Riley joined the main cast.[22] On March 2, 2021, Mary Holland, Shelley Hennig, Christina Anthony, Samsara Yett, Cameron Britton, and Benjamin Levy Aguilar were cast in starring roles.[23] As Yett has to be cast as the murderer, the creators took permission from her mother on Zoom.[21] On November 10, 2021, it was reported Michael Ealy was cast to star as a lead.[24] Glenn Close revealed that she joined the cast on one request only, while the character's background was not decided yet.[25]
Principal photography took place in Los Angeles between March and May 2021.[17][26][27][28][better source needed]
While filming, hibiscus tea was used in place of red wine.[6] Bell had choreographed a five-minute dance sequence with Ealy which was cut from the release, and a fight sequence with Yett which required stunt doubles as well. She also had to act in the rain scenes in 50°F temperature. While Bell said she has no idea about a sequel after the cliffhanger, the creators however, hinted that they are discussing for a possible sequel when they were asked about the casting of Close.[29][30][31][32][33]
The series draws inspiration from A. J. Finn's The Woman in the Window, Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, and Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects.[34][35] Bell's detective role in the series is also inspired with her previous character Veronica Mars,[36] and she also covered the rhyme "Rain Rain Go Away" for the opening theme.[37][38]
On December 8, 2021, the series was given a premiere date of January 28, 2022, and a new title: The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window.[39] Bell revealed that she defended the title when Netflix wanted to shorten it.[9][40] After it released, it topped on Netflix in the US, between January 30 and February 3.[41][42]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 56% of 50 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.0/10. The website's consensus reads, "If this sendup of literary potboilers suffers from being as glacially paced as its own whopper of a title, at least Kristen Bell makes for delightfully deadpan company."[43] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 49 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[44] Chitra Ramaswamy, writing for The Guardian, gave the series two stars out of a possible five, criticizing the tonal confusion as "ludicrous at best and at worst disturbing" and summarizing it as "not amusing, just awful".[45]
Presented content of the Wikipedia article was extracted in 2022-02-13 based on https://en.wikipedia.org/?curid=65635679