NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Karl Puschmann: Is the joke on us with Kristen Bell's parody thriller The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window?

Karl Puschmann
By Karl Puschmann
Freelance entertainment writer·NZ Herald·
10 Feb, 2022 10:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Kristen Bell as Anna in thriller parody The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window.

Kristen Bell as Anna in thriller parody The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window.

Karl Puschmann
Opinion by Karl PuschmannLearn more

Let's get any potential mystery out of the way first: as a side-splitting genre parody The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window is not great.

But, in a plot twist you may not have seen coming, as an actual entry into the suburban thriller genre? Well, it's not too bad.

The series' tone is as puzzling as the genuine hook of the mystery at its core. Setting its mildly humorous title aside, TWITHATSFTGITW takes its satire extremely seriously. There's suspense, tension and even the odd jump scare. If you didn't know better, or weren't paying attention, you could almost mistake it for the real deal.

It was only when some ridiculous event would occur or when series star Kristen Bell would earnestly intone something like, "There's so many layers to casseroles... just like there are so many layers to a person," that I'd be reminded not to take this cliche-filled, yet maddeningly addictive, series so seriously.

The Netflix series plays on, and checks off, all the cliches you'd expect to see in movies like The Woman in the Window or The Girl on the Train so stop me if you've heard this one before.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Just the one glass of wine for Kristen Bell's traumatised character Anna.
Just the one glass of wine for Kristen Bell's traumatised character Anna.

TWITHATSFTGITW follows Anna, a woman dealing with the awful death of her young daughter and subsequent marriage break-up by gulping down hilariously oversized glasses of red wine, popping prescription pills, making chicken casseroles, mooching about her lovely house and intoning philosophical voiceovers.

"When your past is so present," she wonders, guzzling down another glass of vino, "how can there be a future?"

She's snapped out of her living haze when her eye catches a new neighbour moving in across the street. She begins spying on him and then develops a full-blown crush after he knocks on her door one afternoon. Her awkward flirting leads to a shared casserole dinner and daydreams of living happily ever after. Right up until she spies his flight attendant girlfriend arriving home.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Anna (Kristen Bell) investigating whodunnit.
Anna (Kristen Bell) investigating whodunnit.

After some choice words between the two, she retreats to her wine and her window where she stays, silently watching until she witnesses the girlfriend being brutally murdered.

Or, does she? The police find no evidence of a dead body and early on we see Anna struggling to contain her grief by imagining her daughter is still alive or slipping into fantasies with her neighbour.

Discover more

Opinion

Karl Puschmann: NFTs are a monkey's game you'd be bananas to join

03 Feb 04:00 PM
Opinion

Karl Puschmann: Tem Morrison's Star Wars show struggles with its badass legacy

27 Jan 04:00 PM
Opinion

Karl Puschmann: Don't ignore the buzz over Yellowjackets

20 Jan 04:00 PM
Is the murderer in the loft? Is the murderer real?
Is the murderer in the loft? Is the murderer real?

Questions over her mental health swirl as she determines to crack the case herself, an action that leads her down an increasingly sinister path.

Aside from the whodunnit aspect the big mystery of the show, like those it parodies, is whether Anna is actually losing her tenuous grip on reality or if she really did see a heinous crime.

Not since Leslie Nielsen in Airplane! or The Naked Gun has comedy been played so deadpan. But where Nielsen was an oblivious straight man to the chaos around him, TWITHATSFTGITW plays everything straight. Its tone is dark, its soundtrack eerie, its cinematography consistent with the genre.

The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window is streaming on Netflix.
The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window is streaming on Netflix.

Bell too keeps things straightlaced, allowing just enough winking awareness through to allow her to pull off the increasingly absurd situations, like dramatically collapsing in the middle of the road because of her rain phobia, and those frequent, funny, voiceovers.

"To get to the bottom of something, sometimes you have to remind yourself that if you don't risk anything, you risk everything," she says, in a determined hush. "And the biggest risk you can take is to risk nothing. And if you risk nothing, what you're really doing is risking not getting to the bottom of something. And if you don't get to the bottom of something, you risk everything."

All is not what it seems in the thriller parody The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window.
All is not what it seems in the thriller parody The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window.

Perhaps the funniest thing about the show is that the comedy isn't what's bringing me back. I'm bizarrely invested in this cliche-ridden series in much the same way I was by its source material, last year's incredibly average psychological thriller The Woman in the Window. It's so by the numbers but I want to know more and I want to see what happens. Especially as events get increasingly farcical with each passing ep.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

If you watch closely you'll spy a few laughs in each episode, but TWITHATSFTGITW is so beholden to genre's tropes that as it went on I began to wonder if it was having a laugh.

Then I started to think, "am I?".

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Entertainment

Entertainment

Lorde releases new single ahead of Virgin album

19 Jun 10:47 PM
Premium
Lifestyle

From Jacinda Ardern to Air NZ: 32 of the best lifestyle and entertainment stories of the year so far

19 Jun 10:00 PM
World

Trump gives TikTok 90 more days to find buyer, again delayed ban

19 Jun 05:53 PM

Help for those helping hardest-hit

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

Lorde releases new single ahead of Virgin album

Lorde releases new single ahead of Virgin album

19 Jun 10:47 PM

Hammer the last song the Kiwi singer will release before her album comes out next week.

Premium
From Jacinda Ardern to Air NZ: 32 of the best lifestyle and entertainment stories of the year so far

From Jacinda Ardern to Air NZ: 32 of the best lifestyle and entertainment stories of the year so far

19 Jun 10:00 PM
Trump gives TikTok 90 more days to find buyer, again delayed ban

Trump gives TikTok 90 more days to find buyer, again delayed ban

19 Jun 05:53 PM
Premium
TikTok made Addison Rae famous. Pop made her cool

TikTok made Addison Rae famous. Pop made her cool

19 Jun 06:00 AM
Inside Leigh Hart’s bonkers quest to hand-deliver a SnackaChangi chip to every Kiwi
sponsored

Inside Leigh Hart’s bonkers quest to hand-deliver a SnackaChangi chip to every Kiwi

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP