Kristen Bell in “The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window.” Photo/Collen E. Hayes/Netflix/TNS
By: Michaela Tisdale and Christopher Machine
“The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window,” is a comedic mystery series show on Netflix that plays into the tropes that often appear in mystery movies like getting ominous messages to stay away from the “case” written on the protagonist’s window, but with a comical spin by having it written on our protagonist’s car window in broad daylight, in front of the police station.
Released on Jan. 28, the story follows a divorced woman named Anna, who is played by Kristen Bell.
Anna is a painter who is currently grieving over the loss of her daughter, Elizabeth who passed away recently due to a mistake involving her daughter being left alone with a cannibalistic serial killer. Her grieving process involves heavily drinking, to the point of having a bottle of wine in one sitting.
Anna tries to regain some of her normalcy back by getting close to the new family that’s moved into her neighborhood, a widowed man named Neil played by Tom Tiley and his daughter, Emma played by Samsara Yett. These plans are cut short when she sees that Neil has a girlfriend named Lisa.
Anna begins to go through a jealousy phase, but has it cut short by seeing Lisa with a fatal injury in her neck. Anna barely manages to call the police before passing out only to wake up in her house and discover that a body was never found and that the police don’t believe what she saw.
Once learning this, Anna sets off to find out what happened to Lisa that night and uncover the mystery behind her new neighbors.
“The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window,” set the scene for a murder mystery perfectly for me, allowing for twist and turns to flow naturally as the story progresses. It’s also revealed early on in the story that Anna is mixing prescription medication with her alcohol and that a side effect may be illusions, potentially being the reason that she sees Lisa injured as well as everything else she uncovers.
Anna isn’t a flawless character which works well to make her reactions and interpretations to situations feel more genuine. One of her major flaws that help define the show is that she has ombrophobia, the fear of water.
Rain has a drastic effect on Anna, making her faint when she sees it due to her phobia. This adverse reaction is the reason that she couldn’t find out what happened to Lisa, becoming a recurring event in the series.
Being able to put comdeical moments in a serious setting and maintain the plot is not an easy task, but I feel that “The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window” managed to pull it off, having me laugh while keeping me on the edge of my seat.
While having a good reception, a sequel has not been revealed yet due to the show being a miniseries made without a sequel in mind.
