Woman of the Hour

Short: This story shows promise but ultimately falls short due to a lack of crucial details that could have elevated it to greatness. The narrative includes numerous anecdotes, but they feel disconnected, leaving the plot disjointed. The film abruptly concludes, leaving many questions unanswered and the audience unsatisfied. Overall, it comes across as a low-budget effort that fails to fully develop its potential.

Long: Women of the Hour is a psychological thriller inspired by the true story of Rodney Alcala, the infamous "Dating Game Killer." Set in the late 1970s, the film explores the chilling intersection of entertainment and crime as Alcala appears as a contestant on a popular dating show while actively committing heinous murders.

The story is ambitious, delving into themes of manipulation, the public's fascination with spectacle, and the danger of appearances. However, the execution leaves much to be desired. While the movie attempts to blend dark humor with a critique of the era's obsession with celebrity culture, the fragmented storytelling undermines its impact. Anecdotes from Alcala's life are presented, but they feel scattered and fail to create a cohesive narrative. As a result, the film struggles to maintain tension or provide a deeper understanding of its characters.

The abrupt ending compounds these issues, leaving key questions unanswered and robbing the story of a satisfying resolution. The lack of connective tissue between events gives the impression of a rushed, underdeveloped script, despite its intriguing premise. Furthermore, the film's low-budget production values are evident, detracting from its potential impact.

While Women of the Hour has an interesting concept and moments of potential, it ultimately falls short of being the gripping thriller it aims to be. With more detailed storytelling and stronger character development, it could have been a standout piece.

Woman of the Hour follows the story of serial killer Rodney Alcala along with his appearance he made on the game show, The Dating Game. If you're like me, I didn't know anything about this story at all going into the film, so it was a really interesting watch. This is a good not great movie, but Anna Kendrick did a great job in her directorial debut. I really like what she did with this film, it just felt like it was missing something though. Aside from a couple scenes, it lacks the suspense that could've made this a really great thriller. Regardless, this is a solid movie that I would recommend giving a watch once and I hope we see more of Anna Kendrick directing in the future!

This film spoke to me for a couple of reasons. I was a college student during the time depicted in this film, and I remember very well how naïve many young women were about how manipulative, conniving, and dangerous some men could be. I'm fortunate that nothing happened to me, because I certainly took some risks in situations where I should have known better. And then when something like a sexual crime did happen to a young woman, law enforcement didn't always take it seriously. They often thought the girl was asking for it because, for example, she was wearing a short skirt and walking alone at night.

The pacing of this film is deliberate and intense, and it switches back and forth between time frames and victims. I found it a little annoying at first, but it all made sense at the end. I thought Anna Kendrick and Daniel Zovatto played their roles extremely well. Zovatto came across as creepy AF. A few points are fictionalized, of course, and I'm not sure how much. I did some reading about Rodney Alcala, and the way he was apprehended is essentially accurate. If you can deal with the slow pace of this film, it's well worth the watch.

I ended up being really frustrated watching this given the fact that I thought it had a really good hook. In the end the whole thing just ends up feeling like a series of short films only a couple of which I found to be engaging and when put together into one film it just ends up feeling repetitive. That's not to say it isn't effective, it is absolutely appropriately brutal its depiction of violence towards women but also in how it portrays the sexism of the 70's. The main thing that intrigued me about this movie was the idea of the game show portion and that ended feeling really undercooked and in the overall narrative it didn't ultimately amount to much. There are very effective sequences and it's very handsomely shot but it's so uneven that I couldn't help but feel disappointed in the final product.

I've always liked Anna Kendrick, I consider her a good actress, but until now she had played roles mainly in comedies or dramatic films, so I was surprised to see her not only as the protagonist, but also as the director of a dark thriller based on a true story and I was also surprised to see that as a director, Anna did a good job.

The film flows very well, the tension is constant and the cast does a great job, from Kendrick to Daniel Zovatto, absolutely perfect in the role of the crazy Rodney Alcala.

Zovatto fits perfectly into the role of this psychopath and the moments in which he tries to charm women before killing them, really give you the shivers, also thanks, as mentioned, to the solid and no-frills direction of Kendrick.

In conclusion, a very interesting film that I recommend, among the few truly good films released this year on Netflix.