We Are Terrified by the Simple, Scary Premise of Blumhouse’s Latest

You want to feel safe at home. That’s just a bedrock of living. You need a place that makes you feel comfortable, calm, and excited about taking on life’s challenges. But, what happens when home isn’t safe? What if your safety was challenged by a mysterious presence that just showed up out of nowhere and started taunting you? It’s not a pleasant thought, which is why it’s also a great premise for a movie.

It’s the premise of The Woman in the Yard, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Carry On, Black Adam), which opens March 28. It stars Danielle Deadwyler (Station Eleven, Till) as a mother of two who loses her husband in a car accident. Things seem bad enough but then a mysterious woman draped in black appears out of nowhere in their yard. And just sits there. Check out the unsettling trailer for The Woman in the Yard.

It’s like a home invasion movie but worse. Home invasion movies are scary because they’re scenarios where the safety and sanctity of your home are threatened. Here though, it’s less a home invasion and more a home haunting. The woman sitting in the yard, warning the character that “Today’s the day,” builds crazy, scary tension and anticipation. We’re very much here for it.

So what is the woman’s deal? Where did she come from? What did she want? Universal’s official plot description gives us a tiny tease: “Ramona assumes the woman (Okwui Okpokwasili; The Exorcist: Believer, Julie Taymor’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) is lost or demented, but as the woman creeps nearer and nearer to the house, it becomes clear she is no ordinary figure and her intentions are anything but peaceful. Now Ramona must rally to protect herself and her children from the grasp of the woman who simply won’t leave them alone.” Oh no, she “creeps nearer and nearer to the house?” Nope, nope, nope. Not liking this. Not one bit.

We’re guessing it’s the ghost of someone involved in the car accident, right? Or maybe something way creepier and smarter? We’ll find out on March 28.

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