Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- harrowing
- confrontational
- grotesque
- late night horror viewing
- cult movie marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film strange, audacious, and aggressively transgressive, though uneven, with particular impact in its intensely bloody finale.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Chris treats the captured Woman as a domestic project, while the family’s abuse reveals male supremacy as the film’s central social horror.
The film combines dysfunctional-family drama with torture, sexual violence, cannibal imagery, and a wildly bloody climax.
The Cleek family home and underground shed transform a rural Northeast homestead into a site of captivity and escalating violence.
The Woman’s imprisonment and repeated attempts at domestication eventually drive the film’s revenge-centered reversal of power.
Films like The Woman, and why
Revenge
shared rape-and-revenge framework, misogynistic violence, and confrontational feminist horror
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
shared rural isolation, brutal bodily violence, and grim survival horror
The Loved Ones
shared sadistic domestic abuse, transgressive horror, and escalating family violence
The Offspring
shared feral outsider imagery, revenge-driven horror, and bleak social critique
Movie Details
- Director
- Lucky McKee
- Release Date
- 2011-10-14
- Runtime
- 102 min
- Rating
- 6.1 / 10 (615)
Cast
- Pollyanna McIntosh
- Sean Bridgers
- Angela Bettis
- Lauren Ashley Carter
- Zach Rand
- Shyla Molhusen
- Carlee Baker
- Shana Barry
- Marcia Bennett
- Chris Krzykowshi
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+, Shudder, Shudder Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp, Shudder Apple TV channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel, ARROW
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Woman about?
- A feral woman’s captivity in a rural lawyer’s home becomes a vicious reckoning with patriarchal cruelty and the myth of civilized behavior.
- What is The Woman like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Woman as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Woman violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Woman as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Woman?
- Critics broadly found the film strange, audacious, and aggressively transgressive, though uneven, with particular impact in its intensely bloody finale.
- Which films are like The Woman?
- Films with a similar feel include Revenge, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Loved Ones, and The Offspring.
- How long is The Woman?
- The Woman runs 102 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Woman?
- In United States, The Woman streams on Amazon Prime Video, Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+, Shudder, Shudder Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp, Shudder Apple TV channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel, ARROW.
