TIFF 2023: Anna Kendrick’s Directorial Debut ‘Woman of the Hour’ Explores Misogyny Amid a Killer’s Spree

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | September 14, 2023 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | September 14, 2023 |

Rodney Alcala terrorized women and young girls across America during the late 1970s. Charged with five murders committed between 1977 and 1979, it is estimated that he might be responsible for the deaths of over 130 people. He had been reported multiple times yet never dealt with by the authorities. In the midst of his killing spree, he appeared as one of the eligible bachelors on The Dating Game, winning a date with Cheryl Bradshaw. It’s the sort of story that so perfectly exemplifies the terror of being a woman under the thumb of abusive patriarchy that, had it not happened, someone would have had to make it up.

After inspiring plenty of true crime specials, the Alcala case has now been brought to life in a film by Anna Kendrick, making her directorial debut in a strong drama that signals immense potential for her future as a filmmaker. Woman of the Hour also stars Kendrick as Cheryl, an aspiring actress who ends up on the cheesecake fake dating show in the hopes that it will kickstart her career. The Dating Game was always creepy, and it doesn’t take much for Kendrick to spin it as part of a wider spectrum of cruelty towards women.

Alcala, played by Daniel Zovatto with unnerving confidence, doesn’t seem like a creep to begin with. As we see with his various encounters with the women he attacked, he could turn on the charm with ease. On The Dating Game, he seems like the preferable option in a sea of total pigs. When he turns the charm off, however, the change is instant. Kendrick focuses on those moments of realization when the women suddenly know that they’re in danger, which will feel horribly familiar to many viewers. What will also ring painfully true is seeing how so many of these women go into self-defence mode, eager to appease those that are clearly in the wrong. Cheryl brushes off her neighbour’s advances and is made to feel like the problem. Men constantly put their hands on women, something Kendrick and cinematographer Zach Kuperstein (whose experiences in shooting horror like Barbarian are an excellent fit here) put great emphasis on.

As Cheryl, Kendrick gets to shine as a woman who is done with men’s shit but can’t escape it for a second. She’s an actress who has always excelled at playing sparky, witty women who are often the most sensible people in the room at any given time. That’s not entirely the case with Cheryl, who is hardly alone in her unease with the sexist system she’s forced to participate in. Yet we still see that sharpness, especially when Cheryl decides to buck the Dating Game set-up so that she can be on somewhat even footing with the bachelors she can’t even see. While she is ostensibly the lead, Kendrick smartly pivots towards the other women, showing the various ways that they were preyed upon by Alcala over the course of two years. It soon becomes a familiar pattern, a pathological process by a man who has perfected his agenda.

The Dating Game becomes the epicentre for this tale, a surreal moment in time where a TV show ‘of its era’ became the home, however briefly, to a man who truly hated women. It’s all fun and games, so Cheryl is told when she’s ushered into the studio and primped for the (male) viewers’ approval. Host Jim Lange (played by Tony Hale as a used car salesman who got lucky) can barely hide his disinterest in Cheryl as he asks her rote questions about her life. While being encouraged by one of the hair and make-up team, one of them tells Cheryl that every dumb schlocky question they ask is really concealing the same fear: ‘Which one of you won’t hurt me?’ If these are the best options that women have then how terrible at the worst? Well, they all know the answer to that.

Kendrick builds to a highly tense climax with a fictional meet-up between Cheryl and Rodney. By the time we get there, we know how evil Alcala is and we’re attached to this woman who just wants to get out of this rigged system in one piece. We know how Alcala turns on the charm and how Cheryl is used to deflecting unwanted advances. The moment the shift happens, the world around them suddenly falls silent. Even though we know this moment didn’t happen in real life, it’s hard not to feel fear for what could happen, so sharp is Kendrick’s ability at building suspense. It all seemed so easy to Alcala, especially since it seemed as though the authorities didn’t care. In the audience of The Dating Game is Laura (Nicolette Robinson), a woman who immediately recognizes Rodney as the man who raped and murdered her friend. Her boyfriend seems hesitant to believe her, and her attempts to warn both the producers and police fall on deaf ears. Indeed, their rejection of her obvious pain is so cruel that the audience is aggravated on her behalf.

Netflix put down a reported $11 million for the rights to Woman of the Hour and it’s not hard to see why they’d be drawn to a well-made and unbearably tense drama based on a true story. One wonders if they see the irony in being a platform of leering and victimizing true crime then acquiring a film focused on how entertainment turns women into objects for men like Alcala. If Kendrick decides to direct full-time, she’s got a good future ahead of her (although the performance she gives here should also be a strong reminder of her capabilities.) This is a film that understands how casual chauvinism and misogynistic brutality are cut from the same cloth. This is an assured directorial debut that brings to life a dark story by focusing on the right stuff.

Woman of the Hour had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. It has been acquired by Netflix, who are set to release it later this year.