The film is considered as an overt homage to Hitchcock, emulating scenes from many of his movies: a bird attacks one character (as in "The Birds"), a scene takes place in an auction (as in "North by Northwest"), someone falls from a height (as in "Vertigo" and a number of other films), stuffed birds occupy a room (as in "Psycho"), and an important plot point is the interpretation of a dream (as in "Spellbound"). Meryl Streep's hair is styled much like Eva Marie Saint's was in "North by Northwest", and the town of Glen Cove features in both films. According to some reviewers at the time of the release, the screenplay displays subtle references to various Hitchcock films.