Spoilers Ahead!
Anna Kendrick’s new movie, Woman of the Hour, has made headlines after being released on Netflix October 18th, 2024. Woman of the Hour is based on a true story in the 1970’s of Los Angeles where, during a wave of murders making headlines, there is a young woman aspiring to become a world renowned actress and crosses paths with a serial killer during an episode of a dating show.
I was bound to watch this movie as I saw marketing and clips for the movie all over my social media. After watching the movie, I was pleasantly surprised overall. Here are my reasons on why this movie is a must watch, 10/10.
First, let’s address the actors. We have Pitch Perfect star Anna Kendrick who plays Sheryl Bradshaw, Daniel Zovatto playing as Rodney Alcala, Autumn Best plays as Amy, and Tony Hale plays as Ed Burke. The acting was spot on and each actor did a phenomenal job portraying the true characters. As well, the costumes of the characters were a perfect rendition of the outfits in 1970’s as well as what the characters wore during the show. However, I do believe that Anna Kendrick’s character could have added more detail in her hair to resemble the character a little bit more.
“Woman of the Hour”: Youtube Trailer
As it was her directorial debut, Anna Kendrick performed at the highest extent as she portrayed the women, not as “damsels in distress” per se, but gave them a strong, independent persona that never was really noticed during the 1970’s. Every woman that was honed in during the movie knew exactly when something unusual was happening, and immediately put on their fight mode.
The movie was laid out to show different women interacting with the same man, but you are sitting in suspense, not knowing which woman would be next if you don’t know the story. Each of these women he interacted with was in a different area at a different time, so you are passed around to a different character. Eventually, the movie hones in on one girl, Amy, and because of how the movie was going, it was best to believe that she was going to die.
The murders provided a not so graphic scene throughout the movie, as there was nothing too over the top, to show more of the meaning behind the motives, and not of the actions. It did not dwell on violence as it used short moments, such as a glimpse of a photo, blood on the serial killer, or distant screams, to demonstrate the unfortunate death. It is represented in the movie that the women were chosen at random, and were only targeted based on the hate crime of being women. The serial killer, Rodney Alcala, was a photographer, and used that to his advantage as he knew the one thing women loved to do, bring photographs. He would photograph the victims before and after their death and publish it out the world as it created a symbolic piece.
Kendrick decided to add her own spin on facts over fiction. With her feminist perspective on the movie, she changed the protocol of The Dating Game which can be seen in the movie as it puts a shock on the host. She wanted to highlight the men’s ignorance and lack of knowledge and show that women are just as or more educated than men.
Overall, the whole movie piece, showed a feminist side of the serial killer spree of Rodney Alcala. It highlighted the independent and strong side of women during the 1970’s that was overlooked. Viewers can grow attached to the characters and want to see a positive ending to the hideous crimes being committed. As I watched the ending of the movie, as it states what happened to Rodney Alcala, I felt a sigh of relief and justice for the woman who died.
It is by far one of my favorite serial killer documentaries, as I am a lover of True Crime.
Related:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/22/woman-of-the-hour-true-story-netflix