The first 10 minutes of Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut “Woman of the Hour” immediately grabs you and keeps you locked in for its 95-minute runtime. In that opening scene, set in 1977 in the isolated mountains of Wyoming, the film introduces us to Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) and one of his victims (a young woman played by Kelley Jakle, possibly based on victim Christine Ruth Thornton) who tearfully opens up about her painful breakup with an ex-boyfriend in light of her pregnancy.
The sequence perfectly encapsulates how insidious Alcala is: He’s the worst kind of renaissance man, someone who has a deep understanding of women and knows exactly what to say at all times. He can switch from empathic and charming to cold and murderous on a dime. Kendrick’s direction off Ian McDonald’s taut screenplay doesn’t hold back from showing Alcala’s depravity and psychosis.
A Story of Two Sides of the Same Coin
The film alternates between Rodney and aspiring actress Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick), who will eventually meet the former on the television show “The Dating Game.”
Cheryl’s determined to make it as an actress. She spends every moment of her free time running through lines for auditions, getting her hopes up, then inevitably getting calls from her agent saying empty words like “The studio thought you were great, really! But they’re picking someone else.” Kendrick plays the role perfectly, imbuing Cheryl with a weary optimism. It’s that kind of optimism you have when you’re exhausted but confident; and you’re confident that things will get better because they can’t get any worse.
Cheryl’s personal life isn’t by any means better. She hasn’t dated in two years and mostly lives a solitary life, with her only “friend” Terry (Pete Holmes) being more of an annoyance than a buddy. He lives next door so he’s nearly impossible to avoid, so Cheryl humors him because she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. There are moments where Terry seems too forceful so Cheryl also uses street smarts and humor to protect herself from him.
What’s so fascinating about the “Woman of the Hour” is how Rodney and Cheryl seem to be two sides of the same coin. Where Rodney uses his intelligence and charm to seduce and murder women, Cheryl uses her intellect and charm to stay safe from the entitled men around her (like Terry) who only see her as their next sexual conquest.
On the Vulnerability of Women in the Presence of Men
Other films released this year, most notably “Blink Twice,” show how women always have to have their defenses up around men, because a lot of men won’t accept the word “no” and will even resort to violence to get what they want. “Woman of the Hour” doubles down on this, showing how suffocating the world can be for women—especially for women back in the days before the ‘Me Too’ Movement—when men could pretty much do whatever they wanted to women and rarely faced punishment for it.
Through Cheryl’s eyes, things that on the surface seem harmless become malevolent, notably in one scene when “nice guy” Terry, rebuffed by Cheryl, says “That’s okay. So I guess you’re going home now?” As he says it, his friendly smile changes to a stone-cold expression, an expression filled with bitterness and malice, causing Cheryl to pull back from him a bit and instantly switch into defense mode. It makes you wonder how women didn’t go mad in those days, having to constantly keep their guard up in every social situation involving men.
It’s incredibly frustrating watching Terry good-naturedly steamroll his way into Cheryl’s apartment in one scene when her body language is screaming that she wants to be alone. And it’s equally frustrating watching Alcala approach his next victim and woo her, knowing what the end result will be.
‘Woman of the Hour’: A Suspenseful Film from a First-Time Filmmaker
Once the film reaches the fateful night of “The Dating Game” the intensity amps up even more, with Cheryl being at odds with the show’s host Ed Burke (Tony Hale), Alcala at odds with one of the other bachelors, and a subplot involving someone in the audience recognizing Alcala and trying to stop the show. These all spin the film into a Brian De Palma-level of chaotic suspense that I loved.
“Woman of the Hour” is a fantastic directorial debut from Anna Kendrick, and I hope she directs many more films in the future.
“Woman of the Hour” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2023. You can now watch it on Netflix, which released it on October 18, 2024.
