The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window

Enjoyed this as a light hearted spoof of the psychological thriller genre. Lots of funny moments, not least the guy who's forever fixing the postbox.

Disengage your brain and be like Anna - pour yourself a bottle sized glass of wine and enjoy.

This was a confusing watch. Was it a parody, a black comedy or just a really bad thriller. I almost feel as if they intended it to be serious then realised how bad it was and re-edited it as if they intended it to be a parody.

Not sure I believe it, but I am drinking too much....

Anna (Kristen Bell) is haunted by the brutal murder of her daughter. She's seeing things. She drinks too much wine, deathly afraid of rain, and divorced from her husband. Neil and his daughter Emma move in across the street. Anna befriends Emma and becomes taken with Neil. Out of the blue, Neil has a girlfriend, flight attendant Lisa. One stormy night, Anna sees Lisa being murdered in Neil's house. She calls the cops but they find nothing.

This is a Netflix show spoofing those Netflix shows about woman in danger solving murder mysteries. Kristen Bell is doing a very deadpan performance. The humor is dark and understated. After a couple of episodes, I was more taken with the mystery than the humor. After a few more episodes, I realized that the mystery doesn't matter that much either. Most of these mystery shows and movies are fictional. In that, this one is no different. However, it's more than that. The reveal doesn't matter. It could be space aliens and that would be fine for this series. I still like the few moments of laughs and Kristen Bell's performance. The show is caught in the middle. The mystery doesn't matter and the humor is not broad enough to be truly funny. It is interesting.

The mystery of this mystery is whether it's an actual mystery, a veritable break in the fourth wall. On the one hand, hallucination hypotheses are supported by the ever present handyman. On the other hand, there is a continuing flow of empirical data to support her suspicions. I liked the tease: is this "real" only in her head, or real, period.

Dali-like, you'll find film's title, "The Woman in the House...," the penultimate clue. Is this comedy, horror, mystery or just plain old good drama. Sex on the stairs? Sex on the marble island? Just who is screwing who? Howling dogs? Buried hands? Surreal indeed.

Who did what to whom changes all too quickly. Make sure you have Tylenol for headaches from your head spinning. Make sure you pay attention to all the details in the production design; the continuity supervisor should get an Emmy. Consider buying stock in Corning Ware. Be ready also for scenes directed sweetly or you'll become diabetic, instantly.

When you assume you know, you don't, and when you assume you know, you know what that makes you (and me). Ass commentary aside, you'll love Kristen Bell's march through this panoply of the real, the hallucinated, and the surreal. Kudos to Davidson, Dorf, et al. For leading us down garden paths of a nuanced, albeit cliched, mystery journey. Be careful you don't trip. Don't assume Chastity's guilt assuages any one else's. I did.

Puns abound: be patient with Buell, the omnipresent handyman. He certainly nailed it, holy hand indeed; and he has a hand in every episode. I've never seen a mailbox needing so much attention. Why was a raccoon body found? Elizabeth's gravestone carving: Do we read it as carved, "There's No. '1' in Heaven." Or, as "There's no one in heaven." Real, or surreal, or hallucination? Find more Tylenol.

Pay attention to the casting... Massacre Mike in prison, Buell, the fingerprint technician. Subtle similarities until...

The Woman in the House... series is a palette of nuanced colors; they form cycles of meaning, and recycled nuance. Enjoy being painted confused. Yes, confused is a color, a shade of tan.

Real, satire, surreal or hallucination? Bingo.

I'm seriously questioning the cognitive skills of some reviewers. This clearly is a parody of Lifetime like mysteries. It's supposed to be silly. The handyman and the BFF always stopping by are the funniest scenes. The fact that the silliness is portrayed so serious is the hook. Lighten up amateur " film critics.