Anna Kendrick makes her directorial debut with the chilling “Woman of the Hour,” which premiered Friday on Netflix. Kendrick also stars in the film written by Ian McDonald, based on the true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala, who once appeared on — and won — “The Dating Game.” Kendrick stars as Sheryl, a struggling actress who appears on the show while trying to jump-start her career. Her experience taping the dating show and having a drink with winner Rodney (played by Daniel Zovatto) is intercut with depictions of Alcala’s attacks on women both before and after he appeared on the show, including one of his last victims, a young runaway played devastatingly by Autumn Best.
“Woman of the Hour” is a strong debut from Kendrick, bringing together not just the chilling details of Alcala’s murder spree and bizarre TV appearance, but also the misogyny that permeates society, from the repugnant sexism of the TV show itself, to the men who are unable to believe women when they report feeling afraid, uneasy, or even when they have evidence of crimes (Alcala was reported to the police many, many times before he was finally tried and imprisoned for 10 murders).
Kendrick and McDonald’s take on the material is a somewhat unique approach to films about real-life serial killers, focusing on the victims themselves or would-be victims, in Sheryl. Often films try to understand these people through the investigators tracking them down, or through specific relationships. But after “Woman of the Hour,” compare and contrast the film with these other movies based on real serial killers.
Many films focus on the police or journalists investigating the crimes, such as David Fincher’s 2007 masterpiece “Zodiac,” written by James Vanderbilt, based on the book by Robert Graysmith. Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. star as journalists at the San Francisco Chronicle, the newspaper receiving missives from the Zodiac Killer, during his Bay Area murder spree in the 1970s. Stream it on MGM+ or rent it elsewhere.
