The world already has more than enough entertainment about serial killers, but Woman of the Hour at least tries to do something different in its telling of the Rodney Alcala murders. As the film's title indicates, Anna Kendrick's directorial debut looks to centre the victims and interrogate gender dynamics rather that luridly gawking at violence — a worthwhile attempt that Kendrick and screenwriter Ian MacAllister McDonald only partly commit to.
The plot revolves around a very strange incident when, in the middle of his string of murders, Alcala (played by Daniel Zovatto) appeared on a 1978 episode of The Dating Game and was chosen as the winner by Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick), a struggling actor looking for her big break. The film also bounces around in time, depicting a handful of murders in which Alcala, posing as a photographer, raped and killed young women, often by luring them to accompany him on remote photoshoots.
The non-linear plot widens Woman of the Hour's scope, showing just how many heinous crimes Alcala committed. It emphasizes his monstrosity, but it also means that we never spend all that much time with any one woman, many of whom are only given a few minutes of screen time. Even Sheryl, the woman referred to by the title, isn't around for much of the film, including the climactic scene (by which point she has already concluded her arc).
Sheryl is never properly fleshed out, initially appearing as a downtrodden actor struggling at auditions, and then, seemingly at the flip of a switch, turning on the charm and nimbly improvising jokes while quoting Immanuel Kant.
Woman of the Hour's best moment, predictably, comes between when Cheryl finally meets Alcala, first on The Dating Game and then again just after the show. The tension builds throughout the TV taping, as we know Alcala for the monster he really is, and it's terrifying to watch her eventually realize it too. This series of scenes brings out Kendrick and Zovatto's most dynamic performances of the film, ratcheting up the tension — and it's also the part when Woman of the Hour most closely follows the typical rulebook of serial killer movies.
Not that films, even true crime ones like this, need to be strictly realistic, but the zinging back-and-forth that Bradshaw and Alcala share here doesn't remotely resemble what actually happened on The Dating Game, the footage of which can be seen on YouTube. Woman of the Hour may strive to provide social commentary and be more that just another pulpy true crime B movie — but it ultimately can't resist Hollywoodizing the events in the expected ways.
(Vertical Entertainment)The plot revolves around a very strange incident when, in the middle of his string of murders, Alcala (played by Daniel Zovatto) appeared on a 1978 episode of The Dating Game and was chosen as the winner by Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick), a struggling actor looking for her big break. The film also bounces around in time, depicting a handful of murders in which Alcala, posing as a photographer, raped and killed young women, often by luring them to accompany him on remote photoshoots.
The non-linear plot widens Woman of the Hour's scope, showing just how many heinous crimes Alcala committed. It emphasizes his monstrosity, but it also means that we never spend all that much time with any one woman, many of whom are only given a few minutes of screen time. Even Sheryl, the woman referred to by the title, isn't around for much of the film, including the climactic scene (by which point she has already concluded her arc).
Sheryl is never properly fleshed out, initially appearing as a downtrodden actor struggling at auditions, and then, seemingly at the flip of a switch, turning on the charm and nimbly improvising jokes while quoting Immanuel Kant.
Woman of the Hour's best moment, predictably, comes between when Cheryl finally meets Alcala, first on The Dating Game and then again just after the show. The tension builds throughout the TV taping, as we know Alcala for the monster he really is, and it's terrifying to watch her eventually realize it too. This series of scenes brings out Kendrick and Zovatto's most dynamic performances of the film, ratcheting up the tension — and it's also the part when Woman of the Hour most closely follows the typical rulebook of serial killer movies.
Not that films, even true crime ones like this, need to be strictly realistic, but the zinging back-and-forth that Bradshaw and Alcala share here doesn't remotely resemble what actually happened on The Dating Game, the footage of which can be seen on YouTube. Woman of the Hour may strive to provide social commentary and be more that just another pulpy true crime B movie — but it ultimately can't resist Hollywoodizing the events in the expected ways.
