Actors have been lured by the fact that directors have a lot of power and control on a film set. That power and control can be hard to ignore and a lot of them make the plunge and take over the director’s chair. That’s the case here with first-time director Anna Kendrick who is the director of Woman of the Hour which is written by Ian McDonald.

Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) is a drifter who goes around looking for young or innocent-looking women who may need aid or be susceptible to a friendship. He tends to take them in whatever car he’s driving at the time to a secluded or abandoned area. Such as a beach or empty field. He proceeds to murder and mutilate these women. He gets brave and applies for a game show called The Dating Game. On the show, he uses his charms to woo the female contestant, Cheryl Bradshaw (Anna Kendrick). She ends up being more women than this man expects.

There are multiple levels to this story. It’s not exactly as straightforward as it seems. The story and direction want viewers to feel this way. I’ve rarely seen a murder mystery thriller where you know everything the Killer is doing ahead of time and right out in front. That’s the case here. The main victim is completely unknown to the audience other than she’s a television casting director. That gives her the edge against the killer and keeps her thinking process secret from everybody watching on Netflix. 

As far as the fact that this is a period piece goes, the time this film takes place is the 70s. The 70s can be a great decade to tell murder-mystery thrillers. With this one being a true story it makes it even better. The details have to be done very well or people can see that. The 70s has so many cool anesthetics that I love. The hair, clothes, cars, and so forth. The production design is so good in this film. I love to look at it from the very beginning especially the set involving The Dating Game was so gorgeous 

Anna Kendrick is an actress I haven’t always vibed with what she has done in her career. Specifically the Pitch Perfect and Trolls franchises. They just haven’t been my kind of thing. On the other hand, A Simple Favor and Up In the Air were more my style. She has some dramatic chops which is what she’s going for in Woman of the Hour. I’d like to see her perform in more dramatic roles such as this one. I feel there are plenty of roles she could play in this vein, but I did like her here if she doesn’t do many more roles like this.

Woman of the Hour made its premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival to huge acclaim. When I heard about it coming out of the fest I was very excited. Then I heard Netflix had bought it and was putting it out this year instead of last year. I forgot it was coming out until I saw the trailer very recently.  The structure was quite different from anything I’ve seen before. I can see why audiences gravitated towards it out of TIFF. 

Woman of the Hour isn’t your typical murder mystery thriller. It gives viewers the murderer right from the get-go. So how is that going to work for the rest of the film? Here’s how. It lets the audience root for the other victim that the murderer hasn’t killed yet. The movie goes back and forth from these two perspectives.  This makes for a great story because you don’t know it’s going to end even though this is based on a true story. The cast, mainly Kendrick and Zovatto, are the standouts. The production design, costumes, hair styling, and makeup are also fantastic. It’s the direction by Kendrick though that is the real winner here. She takes McDonald’s script and gives it a jolt of energy and originality I’ve rarely seen.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen