Latest news with #TheWomanintheYard
Daily Record
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
MOVIE REVIEW: We see if we should keep our distance from horror 'The Woman in the Yard'
Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra has a varied back catalogue that includes horror (the House of Wax remake, Orphan ). He turns to the dark side once again for Blumhouse's latest which follows Romana (Danielle Deadwyler) and her kids Taylor (Peyton Jackson) and Annie (Estella Kahiha) as they encounter a mysterious Woman (Okwui Okpokwasili) who repeatedly appears sitting in their front yard. It's a small cast in a self-contained farmhouse location so a lot rides on the quality of the acting and storytelling. The former is strong; Deadwyler unleashes a torrent of emotions - and says so much via her expressive eyes - and Jackson and Kahiha comfortably pass for siblings rocked by a family tragedy and frightened by the titular antagonist's arrival. Often bathed in darkness, and for the most part covered in a black cloak, Collet-Serra shoots Okpokwasili from every angle and distance while the actress unsettles using a distorted voice and unclear intentions. When she eventually gets out of her chair, her wobbly movements and simple decaying make-up, accompanied by a throbbing musical score, add to Okpokwasili's imposing presence. Collet-Serra delivers tilted camera work and makes the most of sunlight and shadow to support the off-kilter environment. However, sadly, that's where the positives end. The focus on grief and loss is admirable but ensures this is a tough watch. The constant sniping between Romana and Taylor wears you down and the lines between reality and fantasy blur so much it's not abundantly clear what exactly is going on during the final third. As I've said before, the biggest crime a horror flick can commit is not being scary and while The Woman in the Yard tries its best to be, it fails. A couple of jump scares and the Woman's appearance aside, this is pure family drama that is both bleak and instantly forgettable. It probably would have worked better as a short film - and at least that way poor Okpokwasili wouldn't have had to spend so long sitting in that chair. ● Pop me an email at and I will pass on any movie or TV show recommendations you have to your fellow readers. ● The Woman in the Yard is showing in cinemas now. *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here . And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here .
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Drop Review: Competently Executed Claustrophobic Thriller
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – Drop is the new thriller from Blumhouse, and the movie is competently executed, capitalizing on the claustrophobia of its promising premise. Directed by Christopher Landon, Meghann Fahy stars as a widow who goes on her first blind date in years. Brandon Sklenar plays the man she meets in a swanky rooftop restaurant. The date is going well until she receives menacing AirDrops on her phone. The messages begin as memes, but they soon turn sinister, asking her to poison her date, as she learns that an assassin is threatening her young son back at home. Drop has a good and compelling premise. The messages must be coming from someone in the restaurant, so there is an inherent mystery. If there were more than a few suspects, it would have been easier for Drop to extend the premise to a feature-length movie; with only two real suspects, it feels like the mystery overstays its welcome. And there's nothing special that allows the audience to solve the mystery: at a certain point you'll likely realize it's one of two suspects, and it turns out to be this one instead of that one. As a conventional thriller, Drop works well because of the performances. Fahy is good in the lead role, able to portray both her character's internal conflict as well as a semi-convincing front for her character's date. Sklenar is carving out a nice little niche for himself as the sympathetic guy who comforts domestic violence survivors, the same role he served in It Ends with Us (2024). Drop includes themes of domestic violence, and the subject is treated sympathetically and empathetically. Some of the dialogue is a bit wonky here and there with a few of the lines better fitting on inspirational posters rather than in the mouths of actors, but Drop is neither exploitative nor deep in its portrayal. Blumhouse's recent releases, particularly The Woman in the Yard and Ouija, have felt cheap rather than economical, but Drop is a welcome change. It is by no means a flashy or ground-breaking film, and any comparisons to Hitchcock are vastly over-stated, but it is a competently made, intelligently realized, and basically compelling thriller. Eyewitness News. Everywhere you are. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Horror Thriller ‘The Woman In The Yard' Is New On Streaming
Okwui Okpokwasili in "The Woman in the Yard." The Danielle Deadwyler horror thriller The Woman in the Yard has made its debut on digital streaming. The Woman in The Yard was released in theaters on March 28. The summary for the film reads, 'A lone, spectral woman shrouded entirely in black appears on a family's front lawn without explanation and warns them, 'Today's the day.' Where did she come from? What does she want? When will she leave? Only The Woman in the Yard knows.' Rated PG-13 The Woman in the Yard also stars Russell Hornsby, Estella Kahiha, Peyton Jackson and Okwui Okpokwasili as the title character. The Woman in the Yard is new on digital streaming Tuesday via premium video on demand on a variety of digital platforms, including AppleTV, Fandango at Home and Prime Video. The film is available to purchase on PVOD for $24.99 and rent for $19.99 for 48 hours. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, The Woman in the Yard is the latest collaboration between Jason Blum's horror movie studio Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures. The irony is that the film's screenwriter, Sam Stefanak, came from the world of comedy. However, there was a lasting image that existed in Stefanak's mind throughout his years of writing — and it wasn't funny. 'For years I had this image in my head of a stranger sitting in a chair outside a window, staring at a house in the middle of nowhere,' Stefanak told Filmmaker Magazine in a recent interview. 'I didn't really know what to do with it — I didn't know what it meant, who that person was. So, that image just sort of sat there. I was writing comedy; I was in a bunch of Netflix rooms, I thought I was a comedy writer. 'Whatever this image was, I knew it was something sinister. I could feel that,' Stefanak added. 'And I think it's worth mentioning that it was a man in a chair wearing a big, wide-brim hat. I guess I was imagining Reverend Kane, the villain from Poltergeist 2, to be quite honest.' The Woman in the Yard has earned $20.3 million in North American theaters and nearly $700,000 internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $21 million to date. The film had a production budget of $12 million before prints and advertising costs, Deadline reported. The film earned a 43% 'rotten' rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 61 reviews and a 47% 'rotten' score on RT's Popcornmeter based on 1,000-plus verified user ratings. The Woman in the Yard is new on PVOD on Tuesday.
Forbes
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Horror Thriller ‘The Woman In The Yard' Gets Digital Streaming Date
Okwui Okpokwasili in :The Woman in the Yard." The Woman in the Yard — a horror thriller starring Danielle Deadwyler — is coming soon to digital streaming. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and produced by Blumhouse Pictures, The Woman in the Yard was released in theaters on March 28. The summary for the film reads, 'A lone, spectral woman shrouded entirely in black appears on a family's front lawn without explanation and warns them, 'Today's the day.' Where did she come from? What does she want? When will she leave? Only The Woman in the Yard knows.' Okwui Okpokwasili also stars in The Woman in the Yard as the title character, alongside Russell Hornsby, Peyton Jackson and Estella Kahiha. The Woman in the Yard is expected to be released on Tuesday, April 15, on digital streaming via premium video on demand, When to Stream reported. While When to Stream's PVOD reports are typically accurate, the streamer tracker noted that that The Woman in the Yard's studio, Universal Pictures, has not announced or confirmed the release date and it is subject to change. The Woman in the Yard's 18-day theatrical debut-to-PVOD window falls in line with the release pattern of previous Universal Pictures PVOD releases including Wolf Man, which arrived on PVOD on Feb. 4, 18 days after its release in theaters on Jan. 17. The Woman in the Yard is already available for pre-order on PVOD for $24.99 on Prime Video, which is also the film's digital purchase price. Since digital rentals typically run $5 less than purchase prices, viewers can expect to rent The Woman in the Yard when it becomes available for $19.99 for 48 hours. The Woman in the Yard has earned nearly $16.7 million in North American theaters and more than $438,600 internationally for a worldwide box office take of $17.1 million to date. The production budget for The Woman in the Yard was $12 million before prints and advertising, Deadline reported. The Woman in the Yard earned a 46% 'rotten' rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 54 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus for the film reads, 'The Woman in the Yard has plenty of spooky promise in its premise and a committed performance from Danielle Deadwyler, but the story's heavy-handed metaphor leaves little room for scares or surprise.' The film also had a 46% 'rotten' score on RT's Popcornmeter based on 500-plus verified user ratings. The audience summary on RT reads, 'With striking imagery, The Woman in the Yard honorably tackles mental health issues but withers in delivering the horror it purports.' Rated PG-13, The Woman in the Yard is expected to arrive on PVOD on April 15.
Chicago Tribune
30-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Jason Statham's ‘A Working Man' upsets ‘Snow White' to take No. 1 at the box office
NEW YORK — In an unexpected upset, the Jason Statham thriller 'A Working Man' took No. 1 at the box office, besting the rapidly declining 'Snow White,' according to studio estimates Sunday. Even after a lackluster debut, the Walt Disney Co.'s live-action remake was predicted to remain the top film in U.S. and Canadian theaters over the weekend. Instead, 'Snow White,' plagued by bad buzz and backlash, nosedived in its second weekend and dropped 66%. At the same time, Amazon MGM Studios' 'A Working Man,' directed by David Ayer, beat expectations with a $15.2 million debut. Co-written by Sylvester Stallone, 'A Working Man' reteams Statham and Ayer following last year's successful 'The Beekeeper' ($162 million worldwide). This time around, Statham plays a construction worker with an elite military past. While reviews have been mixed and audiences only gave 'A Working Man' a 'B' CinemaScore, showing Statham has carved out something rare in the movie industry today: bankability. 'A Working Man' opened similarly to 'The Beekeeper,' which launched with $16.5 million. The bigger headline, though, might have been the fast erosion of ticket buyers' appetite for 'Snow White.' The film, directed by Marc Webb and starring Rachel Zegler, had been hoped to lift movie theaters after a painful start to 2025. Produced for more $250 million, the film has turned into a poisoned apple, with a two-week global haul of $143.1 million. Next weekend, Warner Bros.' 'A Minecraft Movie,' is expected to win the weekend and will, like 'Snow White,' target family audiences. A trio of newcomers – A24's 'Death of a Unicorn,' Universal and Blumhouse's 'The Woman in the Yard,' and the Fathom's 'Chosen: The Last Supper' – also opened over the weekend, though none made a big impact. 'The Chosen: The Last Supper,' fared the best, with $11.5 million in 2,235 theaters. The Christian TV series, now in its fifth season, has regularly driven ticket sales before streaming. More episodes will roll out in theaters through April. 'Death of a Unicorn,' a horror comedy starring Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd, portrays a father and daughter who hit a unicorn on the road while they're driving. The movie collected a modest $5.8 million from 3,050 theaters. The weekend's more straightforward horror contender, Blumhouse's 'The Woman in the Yard,' starring Danielle Deadwyler, debuted with $9.4 million from 2,842 cinemas. In 'Black Adam' director Jaume Collet-Serra's film, a mysterious woman keeps appearing in a family's front yard. Though it cost little to make, with a production budget of $12 million, it has been slammed by critics. One of the weekend's biggest successes was the 1997 Studio Ghibli classic 'Princess Mononoke.' The Hayo Miyazaki film grossed $4 million across just 347 IMAX screens. Distributor GKids touted that result as a victory for humanity over technology. Earlier in the week, a new version of ChatGPT allowed users to render images in Studio Ghibli-like animation. Sony Pictures Classic's 'The Penguin Lesson,' starring Steve Coogan and Jonathan Pryce, opened with $1.2 million at 1,017 theaters. Coogan plays an Englishman teaching in Argentina in 1976 who rescues a penguin from an oil spill. With flagging ticket sales overall, Hollywood marked the first quarter of 2025 with a sizeable box-office deficit. Sales are down 11% from the same point in 2024, and nearly 40% from 2019, according to Comscore. 'Hopefully 'Minecraft' can help the marketplace level up since after some underwhelming weekends at the box office we need to get some momentum back at the multiplex,' said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. Top 10 movies by domestic box office With final domestic figures due Monday, the following list factors in estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: 1. 'A Working Man,' $15.2 million 2. 'Snow White,' $14.2 million. 3. 'The Chosen: Last Supper,' $11.5 million. 4. 'The Woman in the Yard,' $9.5 million. 5. 'Death of a Unicorn,' $5.8 million. 6. 'Princess Mononoke,' $4 million. 7. 'Captain America: Brave New World,' $2.8 million. 8. 'Black Bag,' $2.2 million. 9. 'Mickey 17,' $1.9 million. 10. 'Novocaine,' $1.5 million.
