Josh Reviews Woman of the Hour

Woman of the Hour is Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut; Ms. Kendrick also stars as Cheryl Bradshaw, a young woman struggling to become an actress in 1978.  Cheryl’s agent gets her booked to be a contestant on The Dating Game.  Unbeknownst to her (or anyone else), one of the three bachelors on her episode is Rodney Alcala, a brutal serial killer.  The film, written by Ian McDonald, is based on the true story of Ms. Bradshaw’s encounter with Mr. Alcala on The Dating Game.

It was fun to watch another terrific Anna Kendrick performance, so soon after seeing Self Reliance.  Ms. Kendrick has done a marvelous job with this film, both as an actor and a director.  She’s crafted a genuinely creepy and horrifying film.  But unlike far too many other movies about serial killers, Ms. Kendrick (aided by Mr. McDonald’s sharp script), has carefully centered the film not on the killer himself, but on the women who were killed or menaced by him.  And so, in addition to Ms. Kendrick as Cheryl Bradshaw, the film also spends time with Charlie (Kathryn Gallagher), a flight attendant who is murdered by Rodney after he helps her move her things into her apartment; Laura (Nicolette Robinson), an audience member who recognized Rodney and tries to report him, only to be ignored by the show’s security guard and, later, by the police; and Amy (Autumn Best), a young runaway who is attacked and raped by Rodney, before she outwits and escapes him.  (We also spend a little time with a male victim, a young unfortunate who works at a newspaper.)

The film leans into the many ways in which women are demeaned and ignored as a matter of general course in our society.  We see, over and over again in the film, the way men debase women, and the way the women seem to be asked to smile while it’s happening.  In the first scene in which we meet Anna Kendrick’s character, Cheryl, we see two casting agents talking about her in an awful and insulting way while she’s standing right in front of her.  This quickly becomes a theme.  There’s a striking recurrence of how two men take it upon themselves to just reach out and handle Cheryl’s hair in a way which is incredibly insulting and invasive, but which these men just assume is their right to do so, without a second’s thought.  This focus gives Woman of the Hour a different spin than many of the other films of this type about serial killers.

This is not a fun film to watch.  It’s not pleasant watching multiple assaults and murders.  That is, of course, the point.  Ms. Kendrick has skillfully made a film that succeeds in being stomach-churning.

The moments of (black) humor come in the Dating Game sequences.  Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Veep) is note-perfect playing Ed, the misogynistic host.  It’s fun to watch Ms. Kendrick’s Cheryl come alive when she is nudged by the makeup ladies to take control of the game and have fun (rather than asking the dull questions the show had given her to ask).

Ms. Kendrick is terrific in this role.  She is able to wonderfully embody Cheryl’s nervousness and awkwardness and desperation, as a nobody in Hollywood dreaming of stardom who is beset by men who are at best unhelpful and at worst predatory.  And when Cheryl starts being herself on The Dating Game, Ms. Kendrick is delightfully funny.   Daniel Zovatto is perfectly creepy and scary as the murderous Rodney Alcala.  I loved seeing Tony Hale, who I just mentioned above.  All of the women who I discussed in this review’s second paragraph are terrific, most notably Nicolette Robinson, who is very moving as she takes us through Laura’s near-breakdown after recognizing Rodney, her bravery in taking steps to try to bring him to justice, and her devastating frustration at the walls she finds herself running into.

Woman of the Hour is a tough movie to watch at times, but I’m glad to have seen it.  Ms. Kendrick did terrific work as both an actor and director.  I hope she directs more films in the future!

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