Woman Of The Hour Review
1978, Los Angeles. Without knowing that her preferred bachelor, Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), has already killed five women and would kill many more, struggling actress Sheryl Bradshaw (Anna Kendrick) lands a job on a glitzy dating program. What will Rodney do, and how will Cheryl see him?
A serial killer taking part in a game show sounds like a nasty joke dreamt up in a true-crime podcast studio. Anna Kendrick’s lucid, precise debut feature Woman Of The Hour revisits the stranger-than-fiction real-life events that saw Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), amid a murder spree, appear on The Dating Game in 1978. It’s a story that initially incorporates the scuzzy hamster wheel of television production and, perhaps more importantly, the mind games and dangerous precision with which Alcala toys with perception and trust.
The film spends more time listening to the women who were long ignored—those who suspected him believed him and reported him—than it does looking at his misdeeds, making it more of a social critique than a corny thriller. To sense a woman’s sorrow, you don’t have to witness evil being done to her. Pitch Perfect, this is not. Kendrick portrays actor/fellow contender Sheryl Bradshaw with a level of focus and resolve that she has rarely been permitted in her more prominent performances. You’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop in Woman of the Hour, but you’re a little pleased that you don’t have to watch it happen.
In contrast, Zovatto’s portrayal of Alcala is less impactful and believable than expected. He doesn’t have the twisted appeal of Zac Efron’s Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile, but that might be the goal. This movie is more a tribute to the people he stole from us than it is about the homicidal guy.
Kendrick demonstrates insight as a director by balancing the risk of being watched with the excitement of being seen. You never question its intellect, even though it’s less captivating than a schlocky genre movie and possibly a little less satisfying.
