Last Updated on March 31, 2025 by Angel Melanson
Blumhouse’s latest release, The Woman In The Yard, has managed to build quite a bit of intrigue ahead of its release. A lone, spectral woman shrouded entirely in black appears on a family’s front lawn without explanation and warns them, “today’s the day.” Who is she? What is she? And perhaps most importantly, what does she want? We have many questions when it comes to the woman’s lore. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait much longer to unravel the mystery.
As The Woman slowly works her way closer to the family, director Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows) focuses on creating an ominous mood and atmosphere, ratcheting up the tension to the point where even the smallest movement from The Woman can be scary.
Collet-Serra says, “This was interesting because it was an exercise in dialing down the volume and seeing if I could still keep that tension going. I’ve done many horror movies, so to come back to this genre at this point in my life was refreshing because I can now bring some of the other things I’ve learned from other genres. With The Woman in the Yard, I tried to do things that are a little more complicated character-wise, so it was not just about jump scares.”
The story centers on Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler, who also executive produces) as a mother of two grappling with grief in the wake of her husband’s passing. As the sorrow consumes her, The Woman appears, and Ramona must protect her family against the unknown threat.
Collet-Serra describes The Woman In The Yard as a “journey of introspection.” In addition to the supernatural scares, the film deals with themes that reside within all of us and lurk in our subconscious, whether it’s shame, guilt, grief, or the power of the past to rip everything you love from you. “The film is a psychological thriller that has this inner emotional tension,” Collet-Serra says. “Carl Jung, in his psychoanalytic theory, exposed that we all have a shadow self, a dark side in our unconscious that is always judging us. It knows all of our secrets. If we give power to that side of ourselves, we can end up in a downward spiral where nothing makes sense.”
The story takes place in one day, and there’s something about horror that refuses to provide refuge even in broad daylight that gets under the skin. Lensing the feature is a DP who knows a thing or two about horror in broad daylight. Midsommar DP Pawel Pogorzelski.
Tonally, the story is described as being in the vein of The Babadook and Candyman. With the ever advancing presence of The Woman, we can’t help but think of It Follows as well. A slow burn low-speed chase can be just as high-stakes as its swifter counterparts, especially when the dread and anxiety have been building to a boiling point.
Find out what the mystery is all about when The Woman In The Yard opens exclusively in theaters March 28.
