1978, Los Angeles. Aspiring actress Sheryl Bradshaw (Anna Kendrick) has been in Tinseltown for two years and has not yet made her breakthrough. So her agent puts her on the hit TV show “The Dating Game” in order to get her face out there. Unbeknownst to anyone though, Batchelor Number Three is serial killer Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto). 

As Cheryl jovially spars with the host of the show and other contestants the film flashes backwards and forwards to other key moments in Rodney’s life. A man who it’s believed began his killings as far back as 1968 and continued until his capture in 1979. 

Woman of the Hour is a superbly constructed film about the fear that women live in at all times. The all pervasive worry about whether their reactions to advances and comments will hinder their ability to live their life. The entire plot construction makes this point. Cheryl must look pretty and jokingly ask questions of men she does not know and cannot see about how they would date her. And when she starts to show her own personality and have some fun she enrages the host (Tony Hale) for taking the spotlight. Elsewhere there are a thousand micro aggressions. Her only friend in LA proving that this is only the case because he finds her attractive, comments on her attire and rogue touches by the host of the show and the men she auditions for ignoring her presence. There is even another subplot about a witness who goes unheard by even those closest to her. 

Do you put on a smile and brush it off, essentially inviting more of the same? Or is it safe to speak your mind? 

All of these everyday concerns are juxtaposed to Rodney’s brutal crimes. Showing exactly how vulnerable women can be to a man who shows initial kindness. 

It’s an expertly constructed film told in a brisk ninety-five minute runtime. Anna Kendrick, making her debut as a film director here is superb. Her ability to switch between the jovial fun on the show and the immense vulnerability backstage and afterwards is a real show of her acting skills. Whilst writer Ian McDonald has done a really good job of getting the underlying themes to come through in every scene. 

And then there is that unbelievable true story that underpins it all. That lends even more credence to the themes of the film. A man who brutally murdered women for more than a decade who had multiple conversations and run ins with law enforcement and was just allowed to continue. 

It’s a sobering experience and one that is really worth your time. Perhaps even more so if you are a man.