While Kristen Bell is a beloved actress known for cheerful roles like the brilliant teen detective in Veronica Mars or the curious Eleanor in The Good Place, she ventures into the thriller genre with the new Netflix series The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window. Anna is reeling from personal tragedy and doing her best to get through each day, but when a new neighbor moves in across the street, the show's use of horror and thriller tropes becomes obvious.

With a brief 8 episode first season (where each episode is around 25 minutes long), The Woman in the House... pokes fun at common tropes seen in the thriller genre. It's not a perfect show, but it's a lot of fun for fans of the horror genre who know every trick in the book.

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Someone Spying On Their Neighbors

Kristen Bell playing Anna in Netflix series The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window and looking scared

Some horror movies use tropes well and The Woman in the House... takes a light-hearted approach to a main character who keeps watch on the neighborhood at all times. When the show does share Anna's dark backstory, as she lost her daughter and got divorced and drinks too much wine, Anna's generous pours and obsession with her new neighbor Neil (Tom Riley) are meant to be funny.

The series also takes the trope of someone spying on a neighbor to new, contemporary levels by having Anna spy on Neil and his girlfriend Lisa while they work out on their stationary bikes, which feels relatable since many people love using their Pelotons or other at-home workout equipment.

The Main Character Playing Detective

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Many horror movie characters are "final girls" who beat death and figure out a smart way to get away from the killer. Anna is in a ton of danger throughout the series and the show also pokes fun at the trope of the main character playing detective and investigating what's going on.

From interviewing Neil's late wife's sister to visiting a lighthouse and a school to get answers about the death of a teacher, Anna thinks that she can crack this case and that she knows more than any police who are already looking into it. Anna asks a lot of leading questions and is just as determined as characters typically are when they're on the hunt for a killer or answers about the supernatural.

No One Believes Her/Is She Unstable?

Kristen Bell holding a casserole dish in the rain in The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window

The most popular Netflix TV series feature likable, interesting characters, and Anna's journey in The Woman in the House... begins with learning about her past. Anna mixes wine and pills as she tries to forget the horrific image of her daughter dying, and as Anna thinks that Neil might have murdered his wife and a local teacher, no one thinks that she's telling the truth.

The series pokes fun at the trope of a main character who no one believes because they think that she's unstable. Detective Lane (Christina Anthony) thinks that Anna is lying about seeing someone kill Lisa, and Anna's best friend Sloane (Mary Holland) is worried about her. Viewers know that Anna is on the right track and wish that someone would listen and offer her a hand while enjoying how the show laughs at this trope.

The Main Character Is Kidnapped

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Scream has aged well because it examines horror movie tropes and rules, and in The Woman in the House... Rex (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) breaks into Anna's house and holds her hostage. This allows the show to poke fun at another trope of the genre, as it takes a hilarious look at kidnapping situations.

In one of the funniest and smartest scenes in the entire series, which rivals the best horror comedies, Rex asks Anna to text her now ex-husband Douglas (Michael Ealy) so he doesn't come home. Anna asks him to buy bread and when Douglas is confused, Anna hides that they're separated by joking that she never eats bread so he's shocked about her sudden desire for carbs. Poking fun at a low-carb lifestyle and the situation that Anna is in makes this a perfect moment.

A Creepy Child

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The Woman in the House... also uses the classic horror trope of a child who is anything but cute and adorable. Neil's daughter Emma becomes just like the scariest horror movie kids when, at the end of the series, she is revealed to be the killer.

This reveal is hilarious as Emma has very childish and immature motives. She complains that Lisa wouldn't buy chocolate bars because she lived a sugar-free lifestyle, and she killed her mom because she was pregnant with her second child. She also kills her dad because she hates his ventriloquist act. While not every element of this series works, and it could definitely lean in the humor more, episode 8 does a great job of spoofing the horror trope of creepy children who are up to no good.

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