What I Can't Forget From Anna Kendrick's Chilling Directorial Debut
In Woman of the Hour, she sets a new standard for crime thrillers through a woman's lens.
Movie spoilers ahead.
Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut is nothing short of exceptional and demonstrates a mastery of craft. In Woman of the Hour, Kendrick delves into the true-crime genre and tells a chilling, real-life story about the "Dating Game Killer" Rodney Alcala and a defining moment in television history. In addition to directing, Kendrick stars as Cheryl Bradshaw, a struggling actor attempting to revive her career by participating in The Dating Game, a 1978 reality show. As the film progresses, Kendrick casts a poignant light on the female perspective amid the horrors, offering a lesser common vantage point, exploring the dangers women face in a society that protects male predation.
The opening is captivating vis-à-vis its disturbing quality. It casts viewers into a scene with a then-unknown man (Alcala, played by Daniel Zovatto) taking photographs of a woman named Sarah, played by Kelley Jakle. The two are having a seemingly regular, emotional conversation, but the trusting environment quickly shifts into one of disconcertment as the man approaches Sarah and touches her neck. Her instincts kick in. She takes several steps back, but he comes closer before taking her life in a graphic sequence. The scene cuts before he continues to torture her. Kendrick fought to keep this unnerving scene as the film's opening, she revealed in an interview with Digital Spy.
"I think I said something along the lines of, ‘If it’s really important for you guys that the movie open in a nightclub and have a certain feeling, that’s fine, but I don’t know how to make that movie," she told Digital Spy. Kendrick rejected the formula most true crime thrillers use and made it her own, which is part of what makes this film stand out from its predecessors within this genre.
The film focuses on a few of Alcala’s victims, of which authorities believe there were about 130, though he was only convicted of murdering seven women. Each victim-character was a representation of the harrowing tragedy of their stories. Kendrick ensured the women were portrayed with agency and realistic survival instincts. There’s a sixth sense in women that alerts them to the dangerous environment they’re in, and this is brilliantly shown in a scene between Cheryl and Rodney that's gone viral.
We get another look at Alcala's character when he appears on The Dating Game, as happened in real life, and channels a charismatic, suave, and confident persona. Zovatto’s performance is as complex as the real-life antagonist through his ability to shift from a seemingly charming man into a cold-blooded killer. It felt eerily realistic.
Cheryl is the show’s latest bachelorette after meeting him. The pair end up matching on the dating show and go out for drinks. As the date progresses, Rodney’s behavior begins to unsettle Cheryl, and she starts to wrap up the evening. Rodney asks for her phone number, and she gives him a fake one. Later on, as they part in an empty parking lot where he trails her, he asks her to repeat the phone number. Cheryl is immediately aware that he knows she’s lying, and Rodney murmurs terrifying and violent words under his breath in response.
As a true crime lover, this film was unlike any other film I had ever seen in this genre. It was refreshing to see a true crime film give women agency and common sense. They reflect real-life women and our survival instincts. While I am one of those people who sometimes gets curious about abnormal psychology, I appreciated Kendrick’s choice and focal point on women's experiences at the heart of this film.
Kendrick's creative choice to exclude Alcala’s arrest was an intentional approach to emphasize what she wanted this movie to represent. This wasn’t a film to sensationalize Alcala's atrocities or to delve into his psychology. Anyone who loves true crime knows that it’s easy to get caught up in the story, often forgetting the victims. By making them the focal point of this movie, Kendrick changes the narrative and structure of what a crime movie can be, humanizing those killed.
With blockbuster films like Pitch Perfect and A Simple Favor under her belt, directing and acting in this film was about something else Kendrick. The project hit close to home for her after an abusive relationship of seven years. To show her solidarity with other survivors and Alcala’s victims, she donated her portion of the film’s revenue to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, RAINN, and the National Center for Victims of Crime.
"It is really meant to be the story of the impact that he had on the people that were unfortunate enough to come across him, so the aim was always really to center the women's stories,” Kendrick said in an interview with podcast Crime Junkie, explaining her ultimate goal. With a woman at the helm of this film, the experience of a woman gets a more accurate, affirming portayal in a world that often diminishes our truths.
