The Woman in the Yard

The Woman in the Yard is a 2025 American psychological horror film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by Sam Stefanak in his feature film screenwriting debut. The film stars Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Peyton Jackson, Estella Kahiha, and Russell Hornsby.
The Woman in the Yard was released in the United States by Universal Pictures on March 28, 2025. It received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $17 million.
Ramona is a widowed single mother who was disabled after a car accident that killed her husband David. She cares for their two children Taylor and Annie, but she is strict and emotionally distant from them. A mysterious woman draped in black appears in the front yard, claiming that "Today's the day". The Woman uses shadow magic to attack their dog Charlie who goes missing and is presumed dead.
Ramona tries to keep the kids away from the Woman, who seems to know the true circumstances around David's death. Ramona made the kids think that he was driving and caused the accident, but it was really Ramona who was driving and crashed the car after an argument with David about her unhappiness with her life, marriage, and family. The Woman then seems to be using a dark power to antagonize the family and seemingly take the kids away. Ramona surrenders herself to the Woman and agrees to send the kids away for safety if she is going to die.
The Woman is revealed to be a physical manifestation of Ramona's psyche and only appeared because Ramona was praying for her. When pressed what she prayed for she claims it was strength to carry on after David's death, when in reality she was praying for the strength to end her life because of her depression. The Woman intends to help her commit suicide, convincing Ramona that the children are better off without her.
After Ramona says goodbye to her kids, the Woman leads her to the farm, assisting in pointing the rifle at Ramona. The next thing we see is her children returning along with the dog Charlie and the Woman disappears. They ask if the Woman will come back and Ramona assures them she will be ready. As they embrace and return to the house, the camera pans inside, revealing a painting Ramona had not finished that shows her and the Woman's faces together with Ramona's name spelled backward.
The film's screenplay was first written in 2020 by first-time screenwriter Sam Stefanak as The Man in the Yard. It went on to appear in that year's edition of the annual "Black List" of most-liked unproduced screenplays.
In February 2024, it was announced that the film was put into development at Universal Pictures and Blumhouse. Jaume Collet-Serra had been hired to direct from Stefanak's script, which went through more revisions and plot changes. Danielle Deadwyler cast in the lead role. In April 2024, it was reported that Okwui Okpokwasili and Russell Hornsby had joined. In May, Peyton Jackson and Estella Kahiha joined the cast in undisclosed roles.
Principal photography began on April 26, 2024. The film was the first major production to be shot at Athena Studios in Athens, Georgia. Filming also took place in nearby Bostwick, Georgia.
The Woman in the Yard was released in the United States on March 28, 2025. It was previously scheduled for release on January 10, 2025, before being briefly removed from the release schedule.
In the United States and Canada, The Woman in the Yard was released alongside A Working Man, The Penguin Lessons, and Death of a Unicorn, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,842 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $3.7 million on its first day, including an estimated $875,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to overperform and debut to $9.4 million, finishing in fourth.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 45% of 53 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Woman in the Yard has plenty of spooky promise in its premise and a committed performance from Danielle Deadwyler, but the story's heavy-handed metaphor leaves little room for scares or surprise." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 51 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C–" on an A+ to F scale.