Cast: Danielle Detweiler as Ramona, Peyton Jackson as Taylor, Estella Kahiha as Annie, Okwui Okpokwasili as Woman

Written By: Sam Stefanak

Director: JaumeCollet

Producers include: Jason Blum, Danielle Detweiler,

Original Score: Lorne Balfe

Release Year: 2025

Runtime: 88 minutes

Rated PG-13 for terror, some violent content/bloody images, suicide related content, and brief strong language.

Audio Description Produced By:

Written By:

Narrated By: Roy Samuelson

AD Sound Engineer: Jeff Ross

What is It: A grieving widow (Detweiler) must tend to her wounds and her children in her rural fam house after the sudden loss of her husband. Amidst her struggle to rebuild and support her children, she is greeted by the mysterious and sudden presence of an uninvited guest in their front yard. This woman seemingly has appeared out of nowhere, and she brings an ominous warning for the family as she sits outside in her chair.

Why It Works: Like almost everything she’s been in thus far, the film is made better by the presence of Danielle Detweiler, who continues to prove herself an undervalued commodity in Hollywood. while this film will not get her the overdue Oscar nomination she should already have, it serves as an example of how even the most mediocre of plots can be rescued by her talent. As a widow, her grief is present in every action. the feeling like her sense of direction has been changed, and now she struggles to remember to restock the pantry for her children and their dog. As the film wears on, it becomes more of a psychological thriller, exploring a new side of post-traumatic stress, and how that can manifest itself. The performances from the young children are both fine, though neither one of them seem to miss their father quite as much as Detweiler.

Why It Doesn’t: this is just one more film in a string of misses for thrillers of this ilk. We’ve seen single parents protecting kids in supernatural circumstances a lot in the past year or so, with Sarah Paulson in Hold your Breath, Halle Berry in Don’t Let Go, and Nicolas Cage in Arcadian. At 88 minutes, this seems to somehow struggle with pacing, as there isn’t enough to the story to justify the runtime, given the ending it is searching for. Often it feels like we’re waiting for a jump scare that never comes. It always feels like it is somehow edited down from something greater, that perhaps would have been r rated, or that the writer never needed to move past a first draft. The woman in the yard is in herself just a prop, and should serve as an accelerant to the story, but it isn’t until they go for a rather insane twist ending that her presence really matters. Truthfully, most of this film could have occurred without her in the yard, as the family is isolated enough, and recovering from a tragedy tht could make the film interesting by itself. just the fact that the car isn’t in working condition could be enough to push the plot. Instead, it goes for a random choice, and lets that choice end up being the most obvious of reasons.

The Audio Description: As a psychological thriller, I thought the AD here was really pretty solid. you’ll certainly need it for the third act, though plenty of oddities occur throughout that have more of a visual reference than auditory, so watch with description. As an example, there’s quite a bit of weight put on the fact that the young daughter cannot write her letter R’s correctly.Casting is everything, and for a film with zero levity, this narrator choice was a good one.

You’ll Like It if: I’m not sure you will, but this is for fans of Detweiler. You might have a better shot liking this is you enjoyed the other movies I mentioned, or if you typically enjoy Blumhouse films. Also, if you’re in the mood for something a little scary that isn’t beaten to death by jump scares, or filled with gore.

Why You Won’t Like it: the Woman in The Door just feels like a film destined to be forgotten, whose most memorable aspect is a lead actress who already has done better films, and has a bright future ahead of her. A film whose entire central titular catalyst is arguably pointless, because the mixture of grief and isolation would have served the film much better instead of a hokey gimmick.

rotten: 4.5/10