A bottle of pills. A glass of wine full to the brim. And a troubled woman afflicted by recent trauma staring wide-eyed out of the window into the house of a seemingly perfect family across the street. Beyond the similarities between their names, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window shares this foundation with its name’s inspiration, The Woman in the Window. Yet, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window still remains effortlessly amusing and effective in its satire in the midst of its plot. 

Both works feature a protagonist named Anna struggling with alcohol drinking problems and taking medications that cause frequent hallucinations. In fact, it’s a character trait that becomes essential to the plot of both; both Annas witness a murder in the house across the street from their window, both Annas struggle from trauma and mental disorders, and both are not sure if the murder was a real event or a flitting hallucination. There’s a silent question that echoes in both of their heads: am I going insane?

As such, the two leads take it upon themselves to investigate and discover the truth within both films and are thrust onto the trails of more mysteries and unearthing new revelations. The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window’s plot pans out nearly identically to The Woman in the Window; yet, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window sets out to parody its predecessor by exaggerating important plot points to the point of being ridiculous.

Kristen Bell, the actress who plays Anna in The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, confirms that the show is a “satirical psychological drama” to Today Magazine. “The formula [of psychological dramas] is always the same,” she says. 

“She drinks too much. She might be mixing it with pills. She thinks she sees a murder. No one believes her.” Bell adds, “There’s so much formula to it that we thought it was about time that somebody poked fun at it.”

The Girl on the Train, which has just seen an Indian remake on Netflix, is a 2016 film that follows Bell’s aforementioned movie formula. Through her window on a train, a girl with a history of drinking problems witnesses a shocking murder, yet cannot trust her own recollection of the incident and decides to investigate for herself. 

While The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window pokes fun at its own genre, its satirical element doesn’t stop the show from incorporating genuine aspects of mystery, drama, and thriller to reel in its audiences. “The show was really good, and I actually finished it in a day,” says Tristen Shinen (12). “But I never realized that it was a satire, it felt like a real mystery drama.” 

The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window is currently top 6 in the US for Netflix’s streaming service, and its writers are currently considering creating a second season for the show.