How The Woman in The Yard Reflects Post-Pandemic Anxieties

It’s no overstatement to say that the COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed human civilization for the foreseeable future — perhaps forever. The deadly virus that killed millions worldwide and kept billions more locked down inside their homes for months had a profound psychological impact on the way in which people see and interact with the outside world.

Reality has never been a comforting place, of course, but the global health crisis macabrely underscored just how unforgiving and terrifying life on this planet can really be. As we continue to emerge from such a dark period — one that will certainly take up space in high school textbooks in the years to come — Hollywood has begun to grapple with the hopelessness, grief, and trauma we all went through just five years ago. And what better way to tackle such themes than in a mainstream horror movie? Genre has always been a surefire way to face-down weighty topics without alienating one’s audience. Just ask Rod Serling!

The Woman in the Yard producer on why she broke her non-horror rule for new Blumhouse movie

That framing is what appealed to producer Stephanie Allain when she received the script for The Woman in The Yard (now playing in theaters everywhere; click here for tickets), the latest horror release from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse, starring Danielle Deadwyler.

“I don’t do horror. I don’t do slasher. I don’t do violence against women. I don’t do guns. I really don’t do that,” Allain explained when Black Girl Nerds visited the set last year. “My Homegrown Pictures banner is really about dispelling the sort of stereotypes that have been tropes since Birth Of A Nation. So I sort of gravitate toward dramas and some rom-coms and just try to create content that shows us how we really are, not how other people see us. [Jason Blum] sent me this one, and he said Danielle [Deadwyler] was attached. So that was a big plus for me, because I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time, and I thought it was really great.”

How The Woman in the Yard taps into post-pandemic anxieties

Hailing from the mind of first-time feature writer Sam Stefanak, the film follows Ramona (Deadwyler), a mother of two young children — Taylor (Peyton Jackson) and Annie (Estella Kahiha) — who’s mysteriously tormented by a strange entity (Okwui Okpokwasili) shortly after the tragic death of her husband, David (Russell Hornsby). Unsure of what the Woman menacingly sitting on the front lawn wants from them, Ramona and her kids decide that they cannot leave the relative safety of their rural farmhouse; something that conjures up morose memories of the COVID-19 pandemic’s uncertain apex.

“We’re dealing with depression, we’re dealing with guilt, we’re dealing with suicidal ideation,” Allain said. “We’re dealing with things that I think so many people post-pandemic are [thinking]. Our kids are struggling. There’s a lot of anxiety in the world right now. And I think this movie really captures what that’s like for this one family.”

The hiring of Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, The Shallows) to direct the project was the final piece of the puzzle for Allain, who wanted a more thoughtful approach to her first horror outing. “It was [originally] more of a monster movie, and under Jaume’s tutelage, it became more of this elevated, sophisticated, Rosemary’s Baby or some Polanski exploration of the darkness,” the producer concluded. “And that really changed the movie.”

The Woman in the Yard is exclusively playing in theaters now. Click here to score your tickets!