2023 Directed by Anna Kendrick
A drama based on the true story of the time that a serial killer competed on and won a date on the popular TV game show The Dating Game. The killer, Rodney Alcala, was in the midst of a killing spree in 1978 when he brazenly took part in the show.
Sean Patrick O'Reilly Paul Barbeau Joe Penna Matthew Helderman Ian MacAllister-McDonald Luke Taylor Russ Posternak Zach Garrett
Rodney & Sheryl, The Dating Game, 우먼 오브 더 아워
Canada
Toronto International Film Festival
Mexico
Canada
Mexico
We will be watching Anna's directing career with great interest
Chilling, palpable, and really managed to conjure those feelings so many of us experience
Anna Kendrick crafts a solid & disturbing feature directorial debut with WOMAN OF THE HOUR. Daniel Zovattov is terrifying as the real life serial killer of women who appeared on a dating game show in the 1970s. A chilling & impactful examination of misogyny, sexism & violence towards women. Very excited to see where Kendrick’s career goes from here as her directorial voice is vital, loud & clear.
TIFF #5
*World Premiere*
Kendrick's directorial debut is a solid feminist Fincher-esque true crime period piece, but lighter.
Lighter in terms of cinematography - accenting the moments surrounding the bold frightening kills in broad daylight - and lighter in terms of on-screen violence; the tension of the mental gymnastics we women go through all too often is enough to leave us on edge.
I have a feeling that Kendrick won't stick to just one genre and that this is the start of a splendid filmography, but right out of the gate it shows us that she can craft a decent thriller.
VERY impressive and ambitious debut from Anna Kendrick. Just a ton of curveballs and tricky tonal shifts that I thought really worked. I liked “Promising Young Woman” a lot, but this movie seems to answer a lot of the criticisms of that one. Daniel Zovatto learned how to do that John Carroll Lynch thing where all the humanity just drains out of him and his face goes slack at a moment’s notice, and it is terrifyingly deployed here.
TIFF 2023 #15: Special Presentations (World Premiere)
Anna Kendrick's first outing as a director brings some very solid and assured work - I think that her choice not to focus on the killings committed by Rodney Alcala but instead the almost condescending vibe he presents when with women ends up making for a wholly unnerving experience. But it's also especially apparent when you're seeing things from Cheryl Bradshaw's point of view, as she's brilliantly portrayed by Kendrick, because the whole concept of a show like The Dating Game has a very demeaning aspect to it, especially with how the bachelors can behave.
It's chilling, especially when you consider how people like Alcala catch women when they're at their most vulnerable - but also how the men around him end up letting his crimes go unnoticed. Looking forward to what Anna Kendrick has next as a director.
Every other true crime film that mostly perpetuates violence against women as something that is scintillating to watch rather than truly interrogate how it happens and how often women’s fears are ignored by law enforcement and others found dead in a ditch.
Woman Of The Hour knows the deep terror felt by its lead character, Sheryl (Anna Kendricks), and the deferential manners she must deploy around mysognistic men. She plays an aspiring actress so anxious for a break, she goes on The Dating Show in 1978 only to meet a serial killer in this true crime drama which also marks Kendrick’s directorial debut. As a director, Kendrick doesn’t reach for easy grotesque levers; Woman Of the Hour avoids glorifying its villain, balancing profound empathy with visual splendor in a narrative that follows the murderer, his victims and the actress in criss-cross, vignette-based storytelling. It’s a balance between prey and killer which adds a humanising touch to a grim picture.
Kendrick’s measured approach…
Despite having a very solid directorial debut, Woman of the Hour is affected by a very clumsy script with a first hour that feels like a first act and the rest (30 mins) like a third act (yeap, no second act) in addition to having scenes whose objective is to reiterate the message of the film (in your face) but do not take the plot anywhere.
The Tiff '23 Journey
Tiff Viewing #1
Anna Kendrick dazzles behind the camera in her very impressive directorial debut that's so expertly driven that there's not a streak of inexperience you can make out. Every frame is built with glaring intention, purpose, and effect. Through sharp direction, evocative imagery, and a keen eye for atmosphere and suspense Kendrick crafts one of the best directorial debuts in the last few years to give us an inescapable unsettling story of female vulnerability through encounters with men in a time where serial killers were coming out of the woodwork.
The story splits between The serial killer this features, Rodney Alcala, during his 1970s killing spree of women and young girls with Kendrick's character,…
