Anna’s fascination with American classic crime dramas known as film noir, as well as other classic movies in black and white, informs the plot events as well as the tone of the novel. Damsels in distress, suspicious but handsome men, and melodrama all contribute to the suspenseful atmosphere and the genre categorization of The Woman in the Window as a psychological thriller. Anna watches her favorite film stars, film starlets, and film directors on a daily basis, so film noir becomes a pastime for Anna that imbues her life with a sense of mystery, simply by the fact that she spends so much time in the worlds created by the films themselves.

In interviews, Mallory has admitted that his novel closely parallels the plot of the movie Rear Window, and he subtly points to this connection in his use of classic films and film noir. Like Anna, the main character in Rear Window is confined to his home, he notices suspicious activity from his window, his friends doubt his sanity, and he is vindicated in the end.

The language of the novel is often succinct and fast-paced.