Netflix tip: The Woman in the House across the Street from the Girl in the Window

And the award for longest title ever goes to… The Woman in the house across the street from the girl in the window. Seriously, what's going on over there, Netflix? This really sounds like a title someone threw into the room as a joke and somehow the entire meeting room agreed. Maybe they started the Friday afternoon drinks a bit too early? Did they see the humor in it for that reason? Anyway, it is a genuine recommendation. It stars Kristen Bell, which is already a plus in my book.

And if you thought the title of this new series was strange, just wait until you actually start watching it. It’s a really weird series, which is why the name fits it quite well (no, I haven’t suddenly started the early Friday drinks that I now approve of the name). It’s weird because the series mixes different genres that typically don’t go together. It’s quite a dark and grim series, but at the same time also a comedy.

Better said: it’s a parody of well-known thrillers. That’s why Kristen Bell insisted on keeping this title, as the creators were hesitant to call it ‘The Woman in The House‘. According to Bell, this longer name would make it even clearer that it’s really a satirical, psychological thriller.

Although that’s already quite clear when you start watching it. Kristen Bell plays Anna Whitaker, a painter who takes a break from her work to deal with the death of her eight-year-old daughter. Due to the girl’s death, she is also separated from her husband and on top of that, she suffers from ‘ombrophobia‘, or fear of rain. Oookay. As the cherry on top, she takes a lot of different pills with red wine, causing her to hallucinate.

Well, Anna is not doing very well. But then she witnesses a murder. At least, that’s what she thinks. Because of those pills with wine, it could also have been a hallucination. So she wants to find out: was she really present at that murder?

A bizarre combination of The Girl on the Train and Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock, but many more series and films pass by, perhaps most clearly The Woman in the Window, a book that was later adapted into a film starring Amy Adams.

It might not be your standard type of series that you would put on, but give it a chance: I really enjoyed it and found it easy to watch.

Image: Netflix