The Woman In The Yard Has Been There Before (***)

The Woman In the Yard – 2025

Director Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer Sam Stefanak
Starring Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Peyton Jackson, Estella Kahiha, Russell Hornsby

There is a feeling of dread from the moment we wake to Danielle Deadwyler’s Ramona. The repetitive playing of a moment of recorded time makes it clear that she’s suffered a loss. She refuses to leave the last time happiness seemed possible in her world. Then her son, Taylor (Jackson) informs her that the power has been cut off to their home.

The next segment shows Taylor doing the best to make due with diminishing supplies of food for the family as well as their dog. All the while figuring out a way to light their range.

On her way downstairs, Ramona has an interaction with her youngest, Annie (Kahiha). Annie’s story she is telling herself is a happy take on a familiar tale. When her mother greets her, Annie responds in a joyful tone. The moment her mother looks away, we see the truth on Annie’s face.

The truth is somewhat obvious by now. Ramona, on crutches, survived a wreck that her husband (played by Hornsby in flashbacks) did not. Their farmhouse is barely hanging on and the kids are just as aware as Ramona to the facts.

In this hard reality, Ramona has been in her own world. She only wakes occasionally to instill a half-baked discipline over the kids.

Then one of the children notice a woman, draped in a black veil sitting in the yard, facing the farmhouse. Ramona goes out to question the woman and comes back after getting an ominous message.

By now it’s pretty clear what the woman in black represents. The rest of the film plays it out slowly, with some occasional chilling effects, mostly having to do with shadows. For their parts, mother and children are excellently portrayed. They cannot save the rest of the film from the mediocrity of the tale being told.

There is no doubt you have seen this story a few times before. Even if one hasn’t, the hints are many and not subtle. It’s not that the execution is clumsy, it’s just obvious.

The house is shuddered by that time. The family chooses to head upstairs. It’s pretty clear where the story is headed. If you are surprised by the choices the film takes, then you will enjoy The Woman in the Yard more.
(*** out of *****)