Woman of the Hour ★★★

NOTHING screams ‘Welcome to America’ more than a serial killer using a television game show to target his next victim.

Actress Anna Kendrick surprisingly chose this real-life premise for her 2024 directorial debut, the interesting crime thriller Woman of the Hour.

When he appeared on The Dating Game in 1978, Rodney Alcala had already murdered at least five women and had his sights set on more. His modus operandi was to pose as a photographer on the lookout for models and lure the victim to an isolated location.

Ian McDonald’s script does a good job of juggling the dramatic with the plain bizarre, primarily focusing on an aspiring actress, Sheryl Bradshaw played by Kendrick, who winds up as the unsuspecting female contestant who has to question and choose between the would-be suitors.

While Kendrick and Daniel Zovatto are good in their roles, the film unfortunately doesn’t get under the skin of Alcala enough and we never learn in detail why he thought it would be a good idea to appear on television while you are killing people.

Maybe being an arrogant sociopath, as well as a murderer, is enough.

Watched on Netflix