His deceit was wide-ranging and unsettling, and prompted questions within the publishing industry about authorship, privilege and identity. Finn, and the lies he told to advance his career. The challenges the film faced were complicated further in 2019 when the New Yorker published an exposé about Dan Mallory, the author who used the pseudonym A.J. “The picture is enjoyable not so much for its twisty plot-which, even if you haven’t already read the book, is essentially pretty guessable-as for its artful dedication to its own highly theatrical, drapes-drawn somberness,” wrote TIME critic Stephanie Zacharek in her review for TIME. The film appears to lean into its camp sensibilities: it can be scary and disturbing at times, and it can also be, well, extra in ways that deflate its serious premise.

Joe Wright ( Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) directed and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts, who also appears in the film, wrote the script. In addition to Adams, the film’s all-star cast includes Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman and Anthony Mackie.

Her decision to insert herself into her neighbors’ business has unforeseen consequences-ones that threaten to upend her whole world. Finn (whose real name is Dan Mallory, but more on that later) is about a woman (Adams) living in New York City who believes she’s witnessed a horrible crime across the street while spying on her neighbors’ home. Now, The Woman in the Window is finally making its long-awaited debut on the streaming platform on May 14. The film was due to arrive in October of the next year, delayed another year after Disney acquired Fox, then sold to Netflix during the pandemic, with the release date finally landing in May 2021. Amy Adams signed on to play agoraphobic child psychologist Anna Fox in 2018.

Fox 2000 initially secured the film rights to the suspense novel in 2016-two years before the book came out and back when the identity of its now controversial author was not yet publicly known. For The Woman in the Window, the journey from book to screen has been a long one.

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