Brief Story Line
Dr. Anna Fox (Amy Adams - Arrival, Hillbilly Elegy etc) was a child psychologist suffering from an anxiety disorder (Agoraphobia) and did not have the courage to leave her home. She was living by herself with only a tenant named David (Wyatt Russell - The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series etc) staying in the basement of her house. While taking medications and having no real activities, Anna had a habit of looking at her neighbors.
When the Russell family moved into the house opposite hers, Anna found herself to be a bit obssessed by them, in particular the boy Ethan (Fred Hechinger) who seemed to be abused by his father Alistair (Gary Oldman - The Hitman's Bodyguard, The Courier etc). Things became more complicated when Anna was visited by Ethan's mother (Julianne Moore - Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Forgotten etc). But the worst part was when Anna saw something through her window and called the police. However, Detective Little (Brian Tyree Henry - Godzilla Vs. Kong, Hotel Artemis etc) was unable to find proof of any crime.
Convinced with what she witnessed, Anna was determined to find out the truth, even if everyone else were doubting her mind. So how would the story conclude? Find them all in this slow burn psychological thriller movie.
End of Brief Story Line
Before I watched this movie, I had a feeling that this would be a slow burn type which meant I had to ready myself with patience as the story built up to the main part. And it turned out I was right as it was moving in a slow manner and not until almost half hour that there was something truly interesting. From then onwards though, the pace was a bit faster and made me more intrigued. The best part for me was definitely the final third. You would know what I meant if you watch this movie.
I said above that the premise seemed like something I had seen earlier, to be exact from 2007 movie titled Disturbia starring Shia LaBeouf which was inspired by famous 1954 Alfred Hitchcock movie Rear Window. However, this movie apparently was based on a 2018 novel of the same title written by A. J. Finn (pseudonym of author Daniel Mallory). So it was not mentioned that the film was inspired by either the 2007 or 1954 movies, despite having a bit of similarities.
As a slow burn psychological thriller with mystery to solve, one thing that should not be missed were the small details which would have given few hints. I honestly did miss it and only realized later. I think Amy Adams performance was quite good in here as she managed to bring her expertise in portraying this agoraphobic woman with deep problems of her own, plus her facial expressions were top notch in various scenes.
Aside from Amy Adams and few major names I stated in the Brief Story Line, there were other quite well known people like Anthony Mackie (the Falcon in MCU movies, Outside the Wire etc) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Single White Female, The Hateful Eight etc). Btw I did not recognize Gary Oldman in here (my wife also said to me that Oldman frequently seemed to look different in his movies). Oh there was also Brian Tyree Henry who seemed to be in many movies that I saw in the past couple of years (he is going to show up in another Marvel movie as well).
Overall I thought this movie was actually not as half bad as critics views. I found myself to be able to enjoy it. It might have started slowly (like any other psychological thriller) and not too original premise (to my opinion), but it gradually got better and I thought ended with quite a bang. Plus the revelations were interesting and one or two twist were pretty surprising to me. So if you do not mind a slow burn psychological thriller with its usual attributes, then you can give this a try. It's hardly going to be a classic, but it adequately did its job.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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