Woman of the Hour

2023's WOMAN OF THE HOUR, released on Netflix last month after a brief theatrical run, is one of the few films involving serial killers I can recall that considers the victims' (and would-be) points of view.  More commonly we've been given private moments with the assailant, wrestling with demons and methodically planning or concluding a dispatch.  The best dramas of this type giving us insight into their psyches.  Conversely, director Anna Kendrick and writer Ian McDonald allow us ample and quality time with the targets of a real life murderer.  Human beings looking to make it in L.A., excited for their first child, just trying to survive on the street.  So rare to see things in this milieu from a woman's perspective.

Another, Laura (Nicolette Robinson) suffers the doubts and apathy of those who find it hard to believe her claim that Bachelor #3 is a killer.  Laura is in the audience of The Dating Game, horrified to see the man she knows took her friend's life some time ago up on stage, on live T.V.  She bolts, and is given the runaround by security guards and the police who dismiss her accusation.  Even her own boyfriend is skeptical.  These moments will sting with recognition for many female viewers.

WOMAN OF THE HOUR takes a non-linear approach, jumping throughout the 1970s as a charming and well read creep named Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) entices and kills several young women.  Two will escape : Cheryl (Kendrick), an aspiring actress who reluctantly appears on the smarmy game show, and Amy (Autumn Best), a desperate runaway who will suffer assault but break away and call the police, leading to Alacala's apprehension.  Then release, after making bail.  He would kill two others before being captured again for good. 

Cheryl's story is the centerpiece, and the lengthy Dating Game segment is nicely recreated.  I'm not sure the real Ms. Bradshaw ignored the producers' advice to play dumb and giggly and rewrote the questions for each bachelor, but it's a bravura stretch, made all the more unnerving as Alcala - unlike his two competitors - matches her intelligence and wit.  He will win the contest, and even convince to Cheryl join him for a drink afterward.  The most suspenseful part of the film. 

Everything is well articulated in Kendrick's assured debut.  This might've worked better as a limited miniseries as I would've liked more of the other women's stories.  I probably would've upped my rating if Kendrick had shot this on film, giving it period appropriate cinematic grain.  But this is an uncommonly observant case study, not just of a diseased mind, but how the women affected by him are so often marginalized.