It's broad daylight. An imposing woman dressed in black, her face covered by a sinister black veil, stands in a farmyard. Acres and acres of land stretch empty in the distance. This is the first clip we see on the studio monitors of Blumhouse Productions' new horror film, "The Woman in the Yard," when we visited the set in Athens, Georgia, last year.
Those chilling seconds of footage set the tone for the tour. It was also, oddly, the closest we came to meeting the film's main character (at least in costume). While the literal presence of "The Woman in the Yard" lurks in every creative decision of filmmaking, there also persists a desire to keep the press in the dark. Fortunately, producer Stephanie Allain (Dear White People, Hustle & Flow) offered her guidance through this mystery.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: Sam Stefanak
Stars: Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Peyton Jackson
Allain told us the basics: The film follows Ramona, played by Danielle Deadwyler (Station Eleven, Till), a woman stricken with intense emotional distress following the death of her husband in a car accident that also left her seriously injured. Ramona must care for her two children (Peyton Jackson and Estella Kahiha) on a remote farm. Then, a mysterious woman dressed in black (Okwui Okpokwasili) appears sitting in a chair on the front lawn.
The who, what, and how of this woman appearing in the front yard will be revealed in due time. The reason for this project stems from Allain's longstanding relationship with Jason Blum, the mastermind behind Blumhouse.
After initially collaborating on The Exorcist: Believer, which Allain executive produced, she turned down six different scripts sent to her through Blumhouse. However, when she received the treatment for The Woman in the Garden and saw that Deadwyler was attached to the project, she jumped at the chance. After a brief hiatus due to the 2023 labor strikes, the film gained momentum when director Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax, Orphan) agreed to direct a script written by Sam Stefanak. For a production company that has worked with first-time and budding directors for much of its career, Allain praised Collet-Serra's advanced technological and narrative talent, coming off blockbuster hits like Jungle Cruise and Black Adam and now returning to a more intimate film that harks back to her horror roots.
“It makes my job a lot easier when all the departments are performing at the highest level. I don't do horror. I don't do slasher movies. I don't deal with violence against women. My [production company] is dedicated to debunking stereotypes that have been clichés since The Birth of a Nation.”
Allain had to pause here before we could ask him too much about the tightly structured plot or why he broke his rule of not doing horror. He quickly directed our attention to a behind-the-scenes tour. We stopped at the eerie attic of a farmhouse. We watched the monitors as Collet-Serra, returning to the genre after a foray into action, worked with his actors to create a crucial and chilling scene. We looked at the artwork surrounding the farmhouse set. It turned out that Deadwyler, the film's protagonist, was also the artist behind these pieces.
He says his art explores "the darkness of life" and that the timing of his recent exhibitions coincided with the development of the script and his character.
"The thematic interest I have as a personal artist—delving into motherhood and the transformative practices that influence my work—fit perfectly with the character of Ramona. And then, in a way, we just went with it. Sometimes things just come together," Deadwyler says. Another aspect of the project that helped Deadwyler delve deeper into the role was the trust she's developed with Collet-Serra. This is her second collaboration with Collet-Serra, having worked virtually back-to-back following last year's Netflix holiday actioner, Carry-On.
"I trust [Collet-Serra]. He knows what I can do. I call him the master of darkness," Deadwyler says. "He rejoices and finds joy in even the most difficult things. At this point, we've created a connection. That's great, and it's beautiful to play with," she adds.
Inhabiting Ramona's mind and accessing the character's internal and external trauma has been a process that's been underway for years.
"It's a different motherhood story, a different family story," she says. "Those are things I think we innately know. I have a teenage daughter, the same age as [Peyton's character]. That work has been with me for years. The [issues] she's dealing with are merging in a way that's like, 'Okay, I know this.' I completely know this. Simple.
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