Words by JANE CROWTHER
The titular lady is a black-clad veiled figure who appears calmly sitting in her Victoriana outfit on the perimeter of a family farm on a sun-dappled day. That in itself may not be disquieting but it’s the start of a haunting film that deftly explores grief, motherhood, guilt and the interior darkness we all carry for much of its brisk run time.
The woman (Okwui Okpokwasili) appears one day that seems suffocating for Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler). The widowed mother of a teenage boy (Peyton Jackson) and little girl (Estella Kahiha), Ramona is a woman who awakes and asks the universe to give her strength. Why? Because her husband has died in a car accident that also seriously injured her, she’s struggling to pay the bills on the farmhouse they bought as a fixer-upper, she feels trapped in a life she didn’t want for herself and just getting out of bed is a feat – physically and emotionally. On this particular day the family discover that the electricity has been cut off, leaving them without juice to charge their phones or keep the food in the fridge fresh. Popping pills and struggling with mental health, Ramona is attempting to keep her rage at bay with her kids when the dark figure manifests on the lawn, sitting motionless and watching the house. Her period clothing and poise suggest an otherworldliness, her blood-covered hands and murmuring of ‘today’s the day’ evoke a fear in the family. Who is she and what does she want? As the trio lock themselves in the house and the shadows of the day length, the answer becomes apparent as the woman moves closer…
To say more is to venture into spoilers but Jaume Collet-Serra ratchets up tension and unease with creepy cinematography, a couple of jump scares and a reoccurring mirror motif. As the locus of the woman’s visit comes into focus, the story beats soften. And while the idea of the twist at the centre of the film offers opportunity to examine suicide ideation, depression, mourning, the pressure on women to carry a family and even generational trauma (the house is in Georgia), the final third is as fuzzy as Deadwyler’s mom. The pleasure then is in watching an actor who has wowed recently in The Piano Lesson and I Saw The TV Glow fill out the blanks of this role with unapologetic ferocity and tangible pain. Ramona isn’t always likable, but she is always relatable and Deadwyler sells a final act arc with incredible sensitivity.
A psychological horror that will likely intrigue and exasperate in equal measure. And serves as a reminder to always charge your phone…
Words by JANE CROWTHER
Photographs by DANIEL DELGADO JR./UNIVERSAL PICTURES
The Woman in the Yard is in cinemas now
