Danielle Deadwyler explores death, depression, grief in ‘The Woman in the Yard’

That’s when a woman, shrouded in a veil, shows up in the front yard and all sorts of weirdness ensues.

In fact, Ramona evokes her character Berniece in Netflix’s well-received “The Piano Lesson,” who is also grappling with the death of her husband and possible spectral beings.

Deadwyler was dressed casually to attend a screening of her film at the Plaza Theatre this past Saturday nigh. She said she will always go out of her way to support Plaza owner Christopher Escobar, who also owns Atlanta’s Tara Theatre and runs the Atlanta Film Festival.

“I’ve been coming to the festival for many years,” Deadwyler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s such a beautiful theater. He has run this place in a wonderful way. You’ve seen the aesthetic shifts that make it more comfortable yet it holds on to its historic qualities. It still enables you to connect with your neighbor. You have theaters that bring you food and you’re lounging to the point you’re in a bed. I want to be forced to sit up and be commanded to pay attention.”

Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com

Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com

Deadwyler, who has a son, chose to work on “The Woman in the Yard” in part because it was a study in “what it means to navigate motherhood.”

And she got to shoot again in metro Atlanta, as she did for “The Piano Lesson.” The farmhouse is in Bostwick, which she describes as a “sweet little country town” about 60 miles east of downtown Atlanta. She noted the home was also used in “The Piano Lesson,” though she was not involved in that particular scene. (Some interiors were shot at Athena Studios in Athens.)

The film is darkly tense and claustrophobic. It only has five cast members with speaking roles. Outside of flashbacks, the entire movie is set at the farm.

“It’s an exploration of family, of this woman’s inner world,” Deadwyler said.

In a Q&A after the screening, she said she enjoyed the film’s “indie” vibe. “Everyone grinded it out every day,” she said. “We had six weeks. You commit completely.”

She also got to work with Jaume Collet-Serra back to back since he directed both “Carry-On” and “The Woman in the Yard.”

“He has a history with horror and thriller,” Deadwyler said. “He is very precise. He is hyper-technical. He’s done ‘Jungle Cruise’ and ‘Black Adam,’ then came and did this little baby. He let me be weird and allowed me to live in my world.”

Jackson, who plays her bewildered 14-year-old son Taylor, said working with Deadwyler was an honor.

“She’s really amazing and talented,” Jackson said. “She really brought more than just the horror aspect of it. She let me sink into my character. When it comes to the end of the movie, my character kind of knows where it’s going.”

“The Woman in the Yard” is produced by Blumhouse, which has become known for its horror franchises like “Paranormal Activity,” “Insidious” and “Purge.”

“The Woman in the Yard” isn’t going to reach those heights in terms of box office performance. But for a film with only a $12 million budget, it opened with a decent $9.5 million over the weekend, fourth best among all movies.

Reviews were mixed with Rotten Tomatoes critics scoring it at 43% and viewers only slightly better at 45%.

Fangoria’s Jordan Hoffman said the third act is sloppy but gives props to Deadwyler’s commitment to her role.

“Danielle Deadwyler, an executive producer on the project, is a real tour-de-force in this,” he wrote, “and milks her scenes of desperation and despair for all they are worth. This is a movie loaded with shortcuts but she’s not taking any of them.”

WHERE TO WATCH

“The Woman in the Yard”

In area theaters