Warning: SPOILERS for The Woman in the Yard.

The тιтle character in The Woman in the Yard is meant to be mysterious at the start of the film, but her idenтιтy becomes abundantly clear before long. Ramona is a mother recovering from injuries sustained during a recent car crash when her house is suddenly visited by “the Woman,” a mysterious black-clad figure who claims to have been invited there. Needless to say, the Woman’s idenтιтy becomes a major plot point by The Woman in the Yard’s ending.

Because the movie’s themes can get rather heavy, some might want a sneak peek before deciding where to watch The Woman in the Yard. Aspects of the movie’s conclusion might also get a little confusing for those who missed any beats along the way. However, the Woman’s true idenтιтy is somewhat predictable from the film’s premise alone, with just a couple of major twists that ramp up the film’s darkness to a slightly more unique degree. It all stems from the accident that put Ramona on crutches in the first place.

The Woman Is A Physical Manifestation Of Ramona’s Grief

Ramona’s Depression Runs Frighteningly Deep

Predictably, the death of Ramona’s husband in their car crash is relevant to the Woman’s appearance. However, her repeated refrain that “today’s the day” and her claim that Ramona invited her there begin making it clear early on that the Woman represents more than grief alone. Rather, she represents Ramona’s loss of hope and desire to end her grief through suicide, something she appears to have been dealing with to some degree even before the car accident. She’s also had violent thoughts toward her own children, leading to the conclusion that her death will save their lives.

The horror movie uses flashbacks to establish a lot of this, but it’s already clear from the very start of the film that Ramona has hit rock bottom. Aside from a brief lighthearted moment during breakfast, she appears to be completely shattered to the point that her son is practically left in charge of the house. Meanwhile, Ramona’s daughter Annie seems more traumatized by living with the increasingly unstable Ramona than she is by losing her father. By the time the Woman helps Ramona prepare to shoot herself, it becomes clear that she’s more than just a garden-variety grief metaphor.

Why The Woman & Ramona Look Different In The Woman In The Yard

She’s A Little More Than Just A Symbol Of Ramona’s Psyche

“I’m the corners of your mind,” the Woman tells Ramona after the reveal that she represents the protagonist’s grief and suicidal tendencies. “The scary parts.” It’s also mentioned by Ramona’s son Taylor that his mother is on pills for some type of mental condition, although this is never fully elaborated. In this sense, the Woman looking different from Ramona could easily symbolize the part of Ramona’s mind that she doesn’t recognize. She can see that her mental state is hurting her children, but that’s not the person she set out to become.

The Woman also represents someone Ramona wasn’t certain she’d be capable of becoming. When the Woman claims that Ramona invited her, she’s specifically talking about Ramona’s prayer that she’d find the bravery to quite literally pull the trigger. Because of the Woman’s black veil and the film’s refusal to show her face throughout most of the runtime, it certainly seems as if her face reveal is a looming twist. However, when considering how grief and mental illness can make it difficult for people to recognize themselves in the mirror, having them appear differently makes arguably more sense.

How The Woman In The Yard Set Up The Woman Being Ramona’s Grief

It’s Set Up From The Very Beginning Of The Movie

The Woman’s claim that Ramona invited her already makes it clear that she represents some element of Ramona’s psyche, but she says more in their initial conversation that hints at her representation of Ramona as well. The woman shows blood on her hands while revealing that she knows details from Ramona’s life, including her children and the death of her husband. The blood on her hands appears to symbolize that Ramona feels guilty over the fact that she was driving the car, but it could also symbolize the Woman’s role in Ramona’s later implied suicide.

Ramona’s own behavior foreshadows the Woman’s idenтιтy as well. Ramona loses her temper with Annie and Taylor on a few occasions, not to mention the fact that she actively fantasizes about harming Annie. This side of Ramona gets more extreme after the Woman shows up in the family’s yard, highlighting that the Woman was only manifested by Ramona’s worsening instability as she continues blaming herself for David’s death.

Annie and Taylor’s reactions to the Woman foreshadow her idenтιтy as well. Each family member’s reaction differs slightly, with Taylor and Ramona ʙuттing heads over how to handle this stranger’s unexpected presence. These mixed reactions mirror how families often handle grief differently, and Annie’s fear in particular reflects how Annie’s safety plays a role in Ramona’s decision to end her life. This naturally isn’t the healthiest way of dealing with the situation, and it’s somewhat unclear what choice Ramona truly makes at the end, but it definitely plays into the movie’s psychological horror themes.

The Woman Being A Manifestation Of Grief Is Central To The Woman In The Yard’s Themes

Ramona’s Trauma Is The Entire Point Of The Film

Loss can occur at any time, and the Woman’s mysterious arrival at the beginning of the movie showcases just how unexpectedly grief can progress. Perhaps Ramona had already played around with the idea of taking her own life, and she even admitted that she was unhappy before getting into the car wreck that killed her husband. But whether she’d actively considered suicide before, it’s clear that she didn’t wake up the morning of the film’s storyline knowing that this would be the day she’d actually take such permanent action. Her grief has lasted weeks, but it’s progressed unexpectedly.

Not everything in The Woman in the Yard is doom and gloom. Annie, as frightened as she’s been by recent developments, represents a glimmer of hope. Although most interpretations of the film’s ending will leave viewers convinced that Ramona didn’t survive, Annie’s role in the final act presents at least a slim chance that Ramona ultimately decided to stay with her children. The film’s ending seems almost too happy to reflect what moving on from grief actually looks like, but the fact that Ramona can’t escape the Woman without her family’s help is the truest message in the movie.