Woman of the Hour

This will be a shorter review as I wasn't really aware this film released on Netflix this weekend. However, it felt like a movie the wife and I could enjoy, plus it's Anna Kendrick's directorial debut so there's a lot of intrigue there. 

Woman of the Hour tells the story of Cheryl Bradshaw - and several other women - who interacted with Rodney Alcala, a womanizer/manipulator and serial killer. Cheryl's interaction with him is unique from the standpoint that it's through the old TV show, "The Dating Game" and he's Bachelor #3. 

What's wild is that this is a true story. 

Kendrick's direction is impressive, not just as a debut, but in general. The framing, editing, and pacing of shots is the work of someone with many more years under their belt, and it seems like she was able to extract specific performances from her leads. Daniel Zovatto as Rodney in particular feels well balanced, with layers of dark psychopath beneath the surface while being a nice guy on the outside. 

Kendrick herself stars in the film too as one of the many women Rodney interacted with. She's the dating game contestant and ends up picking him for a date - which goes to show how manipulating he could be with his conversation. Kendrick's Cheryl is a witty person, trying to make it in Hollywood, but bouncing against the men that populate it via decision makers, peers, and even dating contestants. 

While I don't take issue with any part of Woman of the Hour, I do wish it had a better screenplay. It intertwines the Dating Game story with other women and while that's not hard to keep track of, I didn't find the time jumps effective. The woman Rodney interacts with are given little room to breathe (I swear, no pun intended there) and be characters of their own before we're back with the main storyline. And even within the main storyline, it feels like Cheryl's should-I, shouldn't-I decision around staying in Hollywood is a distraction. I should emphasize that none of this harms the film in a critical way, but are some callouts countering the enormous praise I've seen. 

Make no mistake, Kendrick's talent in the director chair and as an actress are great, but the story format of Woman of the Hour is merely just "good". I for one would love to see Kendrick continue this new career interest, so it's easy to recommend it, especially because it's barely over 90 minutes and streaming on Netflix now. 

Rapid Rath's Review Score | 7.5/10