The 2025 Horror/Thriller The Woman in the Yard is shudderingly good. While the pace is almost languid to the point of somnambulism, you do sit at the edge of your seat. At no time do you relax enough to take a breath and stretch out that tense feeling. The film delivers, no doubt. It is partly down to casting choices and partly down to story.
It is, though, amazing to me that The Woman in the Yard scored under 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. This verdict was shared almost equally with critics and audiences.
The Woman in the Yard Story
A small family are suffering from a recent bereavement. They have lost a husband and father to a car accident. The mother is suffering from injuries and a sort of distance from her two children.
One day, a woman clad in black appears in their yard. As the story progresses, the seated female moves ever closer to the house. Tension increases exponentially and the family unit starts to tear apart.
What does this intruder want?
The Main Cast
Danielle Deadwyler is Ramona.
Okwui Okpokwasili is the woman.
Peyton Jackson is Taylor.
Estella Kahiha is Ella.
Russell Hornsby is David.
Side Note:
Keep an eye on both Jackson and Kahiha as ones to watch. These two did an outstanding job here. The characters that they play are in depth and intricate.
Why The Woman in the Yard Works
The film works, despite borrowing some techniques from other films. The “backward R” can be seen as a homage to Kubrick’s The Shining. *RedRum.* The idea of a “mirror” world, where everything is seen in reverse was first encountered via Into the Mirror.
If you watched the Korean horror film mentioned above, you will see the “hidden” twist in this story. The plot device is all too clearly seen pretty early on, but it still works to a degree.
What works better is the incredible tension that presence of the woman in the yard evokes. The family in this story is fractured, even before her appearance. It has been broken through the death of one parent and the lies of another.
Ambiguous
The Woman in the Yard manages to titillate quite effectively. Although it is hard to connect with the mother here. The flashbacks on offer show her to be, essentially, self-centered. It is this personality trait that keeps us from connecting with her fully.
However.
The family unit does struggle to reconnect and through their one sided fight, we learn the why and the how. We may not agree with the outcome. It is, in fact, pretty ambiguous. Has the little family really won?
Remember that backward “R.”
The Verdict
Jaume Collet-Serra directs the story penned by Sam Stefanak and oh so slowly delivers. The pacing is slow and, to be truthful, uneven. We do not particularly care for any of the characters, except for David. The Woman in the Yard does work though, just sporadically.
It earns a 3.75 stars overall. It can be streamed via Peacock, or rented via Amazon. Check it out, if your thing is slow burning ambiguity. Blumhouse may not have struck out completely with this one, but it is close.
The Trailer
