Based on a true story, vicious serial killer, set in the late 1970s, featuring the lovely and multi-talented Anna Kendrick, and ... directed by that same lovely and multi-talented Anna Kendrick! More than enough reasons for me to check out "Woman of the Hour" as soon as it became available via Netflix, and it certainly didn't disappoint!
This is why I am so intrigued by true-crime stories. They are far more incredible and deranged than fiction. If you wrote a script about a serial killer participating in a popular TV-dating show, after already two convictions and imprisonments for sexual delinquencies, nobody would find it realistic or plausible. And yet, it's what really happened in September of 1978, when Rodney Alcala partook - and won - an episode of "The Dating Game" as the witty amateur-photographer Bachelor #3.
Alcala's television appearance is just a mere footnote in his "career", and Anna Kendrick (who also depicts Cheryl Bradshaw; - the woman who chooses him for a date) realizes this as well. "Woman of the Hour" also re-enacts a few of Alcala's previous crimes, like the murder of a stewardess that remained unsolved until 2011 and the kidnapping and attempted murder of a 15-year-old runaway girl. In parallel, Kendrick illustrates the difficulties and dangers that aspiring and naïve young actresses had to face in Hollywood in the late 70s. Perhaps it's not the best true-crime thriller you'll ever see, but "Woman of the Hour" has and handful of efficiently suspenseful moments, a good cast (Autumn Best and Daniel Zovatto also give away strong performances), excellent 70s decors & vibes, and a confident & promising director.
