The Woman in the Yard, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, was released on March 28, 2025. It is a mental health horror movie featuring Danielle Deadwyler as Ramona, Estella Kahiha as Annie, Okwui Okpokwasili as the Woman, and Peyton Jackson as Taylor. 

The movie has been labeled as a psychological thriller with its main purpose being how to persevere through mental health issues like depression and anxiety. The protagonist, Ramona, is a single mother who is struggling with the death of her husband, leaving her alone to raise their two kids Taylor, who is a moody teenager, and Annie, a sweet little girl who doesn’t understand why her family is falling apart. 

After Taylor makes breakfast for their family, they are visited by a woman in the front yard dressed in all black saying, “Today’s day.” It is later revealed that the woman in the yard is an extension of Ramona and her mental state, struggling with the feeling that she is not enough for her kid’s, and contemplates suicide. 

Thrillers that follow the same storyline as this, often hit major box office successes because of their somewhat realistic nature and focus on real life issues. Stories with comedic and anguished storylines tend to resonate with audiences because they can see their lives represented in films. 

Along with its deep meaning, The Woman in the Yard was a very well put together movie with exceptional jumpscares and a plot that leaves viewers thinking. 

The Woman in the Yard is not meant to be a film that will leave you scared and shaking, but rather a symbolic representation of what can happen when you let your inner fears control you. 

The film ending is considered to be open for interpretation, with Taylor asking his mother, “what if she (the woman in the yard), comes back?” Ramona then replies to him saying, “I don’t know, but we’ll be ready if she does.” 

This ambiguous ending allows viewers to consider how to deal with mental struggles for themselves, and wondering if she succumbed to her struggles.