I recently watched the trailer for this and I thought it looked interesting, so I decided to give it a view. It’s a 2024 Netflix film based on the real life serial killer Rodney Alcala, who appeared as a contestant in 1978 on the television show The Dating Game.
Cheryl Bradshaw (Anna Kendrick, who also directed this) is an aspiring actress going on auditions. She quickly grows weary of constantly working hard at trying to get her career started, only to get nowhere. Her agent gets her a gig as a contestant on the TV show The Dating Game, and Cheryl reluctantly agrees, hoping that the appearance might lead to her big break. Once on set, she begins to ask questions of the three eligible bachelors who are behind a wall, eventually having to choose which one she’ll go out with, based on their answers. What she doesn’t realize is that Bachelor #3, Rodney Alcala, is an active serial killer who’s already murdered several women.
For being Kendrick’s directorial debut, this movie was a fantastic surprise. The entire film had an underlying sense of tension that makes the viewer uncomfortable. Everyone in the cast give great performances; Kendrick brings her usual quirky charm, but also does a convincing job of showing the discomfort her character feels, from having to go on auditions where she feels practically invisible, to having to dumb herself down in order to appeal to the sexist producers on the show, who are afraid that her intelligence might be too intimidating for the male contestants. Daniel Zovatto is equally impressive as Alcala, alternating between sweet and charming, and oozing with a creepy vibe that gets under your skin. The film focuses less on the killer, and more on giving the women characters, including his victims, a voice, painting them as fully dimensional people and not props. While the murders aren’t gratuitous, they still manage to be horrific, with Kendrick utilizing the power of suggestion to startling effect. Another aspect that makes this film so disturbing is the accurate way in which it depicts how women are often dismissed and not believed, when a member of the audience named Laura (an equally impressive Nicolette Robinson) recognizes Alcala as the guy who was last seen with her friend before she was found murdered. When trying to tell others that she feels this guy might be worth investigating, neither the staff at the show, the police nor her boyfriend bother taking her seriously. Ultimately, it’s the women who have to use their intelligence and instincts to save themselves. Woman of the Hour is one of the best Netflix films I’ve seen in a while, and an impressive directorial debut by Anna Kendrick.
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