A widow (Meryl Streep) investigates an insurance fraud, chasing leads to a pair of Panama City law partners (Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas) exploiting the world’s financial system.
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Jeffrey Wright, Sharon Stone, David Schwimmer, Robert Patrick, Cristela Alonzo, James Cromwell, Melissa Rauch, Alex Pettyfer, Will Forte, Matthias Schoenaerts, Chris Parnell, Larry Wilmore
The Woman in the Window has taken a while to see the light of day. Which is funny, because so has its agoraphobic protagonist. An adaptation of the hit thriller novel by A. J. Finn, its release was penned in by multiple reshoots and a pandemic. Finally releasing on Netflix, the end result sadly has all the hallmarks of a troubled production - be warned, it’s a bit of a mess.
We follow Anna Fox (Amy Adams), an agoraphobic child’s psychiatrist who has a fear of leaving her house. Anna spends her time snooping on the neighbours, but she is spurred into action when she witnesses the murder of Jane Russell (Julianne Moore), a new neighbour she had befriended. But did she really see the murder, or did her anxiety meds make her imagine it all?
Directed by Joe Wright, the film can’t be accused of lacking style. The obvious touchstone here is Hitchcock’s Rear Window, which is referenced in the very first frame. As Anna tries to piece together what she saw, her reliability as a narrator is repeatedly questioned by the police and the Russell family. While we don’t immediately know the cause of Anna’s condition, the oppressive sense of space and sudden camera jolts give you a glimpse into her paranoid mind.
Despite admirable intentions, the attempt to link the film to old-school mystery thrillers never translates and ends up quite laughable (there’s a random splatter of blood during a dream sequence). Adapted by screenwriter Tracey Letts, the film’s uneven pacing prevents it from building up much tension, meaning that some potentially interesting twists never really have the desired impact.
It also lumbers Oscar-level actors with pretty thankless roles. Gary Oldman doesn’t have much to do as Jane’s aggressive husband, Julianne Moore slightly overdoes it as his jittery housewife, while Fred Hechinger struggles to convince as Jane’s peculiar son. Adams probably fares best in nailing Anna’s splintering sense of mind state, but even she can’t save some of the clunky dialogue on display here. This could have been a tense mystery thriller in the mould of Invisible Woman, but instead it’s a film that you’re probably better off not seeing.
With its overwrought performances and messy plotting, The Woman in the Window feels like a TV movie – you wouldn’t want to leave your house to see this.
The Father – David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi, and Philippe Carcassonne
Judas and the Black Messiah – Shaka King, Charles D. King, and Ryan Coogler
Mank – Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth, and Douglas Urbanski
Minari – Christina Oh
Nomadland – Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Javey, and Chloé Zhao
Promising Young Woman – Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell, and Josey McNamara
Sound of Metal – Bert Hamelinick and Sacha Ben Harroche
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Marc Platt and Stuart Besser
BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
David Fincher – Mank
Thomas Vinterberg – Another Round
Chloé Zhao – Nomadland
BEST ACTOR
Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal as Ruben Stone
Chadwick Boseman (posthumous nominee) – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as Levee Green
Anthony Hopkins – The Father as Anthony
Gary Oldman – Mank as Herman J. Mankiewicz
Steven Yeun – Minari as Jacob Yi
BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as Ma Rainey
Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday as Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman as Martha Weiss
Frances McDormand – Nomadland as Fern
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman as Cassandra “Cassie” Thomas
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7 as Abbie Hoffman
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah as Fred Hampton
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami… as Sam Cooke
Paul Raci – Sound of Metal as Joe
Lakeith Stanfield – Judas and the Black Messiah as William “Bill” O'Neal
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan as Tutar Sagdiyev
Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy as Bonnie “Mamaw” Vance
Olivia Colman – The Father as Anne
Amanda Seyfried – Mank as Marion Davies
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari as Soon-ja
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Judas and the Black Messiah – Screenplay by Will Berson and Shaka King; Story by Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas, and Kenny Lucas
Minari – Lee Isaac Chung
Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell
Sound of Metal – Screenplay by Darius Marder and Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder and Derek Cianfrance
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Aaron Sorkin
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan – Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, and Lee Kern; Story by Baron Cohen, Hines, Swimer, and Nina Pedrad; Based on the character Borat Sagdiyev by Baron Cohen
The Father – Christopher Hampton & Florian Zeller, based on the play by Zeller
Nomadland – Chloé Zhao, based on the book by Jessica Bruder
One Night in Miami… – Kemp Powers, based on his play
The White Tiger – Ramin Bahrani, based on the novel by Aravind Adiga
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Another Round (Denmark) in Danish – directed by Thomas Vinterberg
Better Days (Hong Kong) in Mandarin – directed by Derek Tsang
Collective (Romania) in Romanian – directed by Alexander Nanau
The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia) in Arabic – directed by Kaouther Ben Hania
Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in Bosnian – directed by Jasmila Žbanić
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Onward – Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae
Over the Moon – Glen Keane, Gennie Rin, and Peilin Chou
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon – Richard Phelan, Will Becher, and Paul Kewley
Soul – Pete Docter and Dana Murray
Wolfwalkers – Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young, and Stéphan Roelants
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Collective – Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana
Crip Camp – Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
The Mole Agent – Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez
My Octopus Teacher – Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed, and Craig Foster
Time – Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino, and Kellen Quinn
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Judas and the Black Messiah – Sean Bobbitt
Mank – Erik Messerschmidt
News of the World – Dariusz Wolski
Nomadland – Joshua James Richards
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Phedon Papamichael
BEST FILM EDITING
The Father – Yorgos Lamprinos
Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
Promising Young Woman – Frédéric Thoraval
Sound of Metal – Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Alan Baumgarten
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Father – Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara and Diana Sroughton
Mank – Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
News of the World – Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan
Tenet – Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Emma – Alexandra Byrne
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Ann Roth
Mank – Trish Summerville
Mulan – Bina Daigeler
Pinocchio – Massimo Cantini Parrini
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Emma – Marese Langan, Laura Allen, and Claudia Stolze
Hillbilly Elegy – Eryn Krueger Mekash, Patricia Dehaney, and Matthew Mungle
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Matiki Anoff, Mia Neal, and Larry M. Cherry
Mank – Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams
Pinocchio – Dalia Colli, Mark Coulier, and Francesco Pegoretti
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Love and Monsters – Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camailleri, Matt Everitt, and Brian Cox
The Midnight Sky – Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawren, Max Solomon, and David Watkins
Mulan – Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury, and Steven Ingram
The One and Only Ivan – Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones, and Santiago Colomo Martinez
Tenet – Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Da 5 Bloods – Terence Blanchard
Mank – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Minari – Emile Mosseri
News of the World – James Newton Howard
Soul – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Fight for You” from Judas and the Black Messiah – Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas
“Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite
“Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga – Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus, and Rickard Göransson
“Io Sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead – Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini
“Speak Now” from One Night in Miami… – Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom Jr. and Sam Ashworth
BEST SOUND
Greyhound – Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders, and David Wyman
Mank – Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance, and Drew Kunin
News of the World – Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller, and John Pritchett
Soul – Ren Klyce, Coya Elliot, and David Parker
Sound of Metal – Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortes, and Philip Bladh
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Feeling Through – Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski
The Letter Room – Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan
The Present – Farah Nabulsi
Two Distant Strangers – Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe
White Eye – Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Burrow – Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat
Genius Loci – Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise
If Anything Happens I Love You – Will McCormack and Michael Govier
Opera – Eric Oh
Yes-People – Gísli Darri Halldórsson and Arnar Gunnarsson
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Colette – Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard
A Concerto Is a Conversation – Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
Do Not Split – Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook
Hunger Ward – Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Shueuerman
A Love Song for Latasha – Sophia Nahali Allison and Janice Duncan
Sergeant Shadwell, the last remaining sergeant of The Witchfinder Army, is a rather antisocial person. He contents himself on banging on the walls of The Painted Jezebel next door, calling her the Whore of Babylon, eating the Sunday lunches she fixes (from a safe distance, of course), coming up with names for new Witchfinder Army members (Sergeant Cabinet, Private Smith, etc.), drinking condensed milk (which he practically lives off of), and, of course, ridding the world of those awful witches. Actually, it’s mostly that last one. So much so, actually that he checked the number of nipples Newton Pulsifer had before hiring him on as a Private. He is even known to pass over perfectly good supernatural happenings on the premise that it’s just not the type of thing witches do.
Well, Award Season is on us in earnest!! The Golden Globes are done and the race for the Oscars is taking shape. But just what are the winner’s chances?
