Woman of the Hour tells a story about a real serial killer, but uses some fictional characters to carry the emotional impact – which is huge – to modern audiences. Anna Kendrick stars in and directs the film.
Woman of the Hour is the term used on the 1970s show “The Dating Game” to describe the woman who was to choose a date from among three bachelors hidden behind a screen. Serial rapist and killer Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) really did appear as one of the bachelors on this show.
The story unfolds in nonlinear fashion. Sheryl (Anna Kendrick), an aspiring actress, goes to demeaning auditions but isn’t getting work. Then her agent tells she she got her a gig as the woman of the hour on “The Dating Game.”
As this part of the story is unfolding, we jump around in time as Rodney Alcala uses his photography skills to charm and entice women into isolated places. He then rapes and kills them. The film shows several examples of women lured by him. Each of them has that moment when they realize something is wrong. The look of horror in their eyes is the same every time. The actual rapes are not shown, but the danger and fear are clear without it.
Laura (Nicolette Robinson) was in the audience at the taping of the episode of “The Dating Game” with Sheryl on stage. She recognized Rodney Alcala as the man who raped and killed her friend. She’d previously reported this to the police, who did nothing. When she recognized him she left the taping. Her boyfriend dismissed her story. She tried to tell a producer from the show about it and was led on a wild goose chase. She went to the police AGAIN as was blown off as unreliable and unbelievable AGAIN. Laura’s character was fictional, but she represented several women who had gone to the police about Alcala and had been ignored and not believed.
Alcala and Sheryl went out for a drink after the taping because she picked him for the date. Part way through the conversation she realized something was wrong about him. Again, there was that look in her eyes, a look a woman would recognize. She barely escaped from him by a stroke of good luck.
Alcala picked up a runaway teen, Amy (Autumn Best). She was savvy enough about dealing with abusers to be the one who finally brought Alcala down. He was convicted of 8 murders, but some say he may have murdered as many as 130 women.
Unfortunately, the relevance of this story to today is obvious. The world is still teeming with men who want to hurt and kill women, cops who discount women’s stories, and an overall patriarchy that puts no importance on crimes against women.
The way Anna Kendrick chose to tell the story brings out the rage and fury that every woman recognizes around men like this and situations like this. The film doesn’t show the violence, but we feel it. She’s a director to watch after seeing her deft touch with this film.
Autumn Best did an impressive job as the teen who actually got Alcala arrested. The entire cast was very good.
The film is streaming on Netflix and is an important watch.
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First time I saw a movie before you reviewed it – and you are right on. Kendrick’s direction added more of the women’s perspective, which I think is actually makes up the unique, powerful and important part of this story. Don’t be fooled by not seeing details of the violence. Like the review said, Kendrick uses certain techniques so “you feel it”.
I was glad she did it that way. We don’t need to glorify brutality on our screens.