‘Woman Of The Hour’ Review: Anna Kendrick Stars In And Makes Directorial Debut With Terrifying Story Of ‘The Dating Game’ Serial Killer

deadline.com:

For her directorial debut Anna Kendrick chose a particularly daunting task in tackling the story of the notorious serial killer, Rodney Alcara.

who staged a terrifying murder spree in the 70’s in which he is thought to have killed upwards of 130 people. The center of Kendrick’s movie, Woman Of The Hour, focuses on his appearance in plain sight on a 1978 episode of ABC’s The Dating Game in which he was the bachelor that contestant Cheryl Bradshaw wound up choosing to go on a date with, not knowing that this was a period in the middle of his murderous spree.

ABC’s 20/20 devoted a full hour in May 2021 to the story of the cold blooded killer who died in incarceration, but Kendrick’s film version has more on its mind that just the facts.

It had its World Premiere as a Special Presentation today at the Toronto Film Festival . With a compelling script that was on the Black List by Ian McDonald, Kenrick employs a non-linear style to skip back and forth from various years in the decade to depict this man’s modus operandi in which Alcara (Daniel Zovatto) appeared as a photgrapher prominsing various women he meets a modeling contract as he takes snapshots of them in various poses just to prove he is legit.