Film Review: WOMAN OF THE HOUR (2023): Anna Kendrick’s Film is a Chilling and Fascinating Portrait of the True Events it Covers

Woman of the Hour Review

Woman of the Hour (2023) Film Review, a movie directed by Anna Kendrick, written by Ian McDonald and starring Anna Kendrick, Daniel Zovatto, Tony Hale, Nicolette Robinson, Pete Holmes, Autumn Best, Kathryn Gallagher, Kelley Jakle, Matt Visser, Jedidiah Goodacre, Dylan Schmid, Karen Holness, Denalda Williams, Jessie Fraser, Matty Finochio, Geoff Gustafson and Max-Lloyd Jones.

Anna Kendrick’s dazzling directorial effort, Woman of the Hour, starts off a bit differently than you’d expect a movie centered around the old TV reality game show, “The Dating Game” would. It shows a man going to strangle a blonde woman who has no way out of her dire situation. She pauses in a sense of disbelief before trying to escape her attacker even though she knows there’s probably no escape for her. The sense of dread Kendrick captures in the opening moments of this new film is quite frightening and it all leads to squirm-inducing scenes on “The Dating Game” but they are not necessarily the most important scenes in the film. Told in a non-linear fashion, Kendrick’s movie is superbly acted by Kendrick who assumes the lead role and Daniel Zovatto portrays the quintessential creepy serial killer here to perfection. Zovatto’s performance will make viewers’ skin crawl from beginning to end.

Kendrick plays a former acting student named Cheryl Bradshaw who is trying to get an acting gig when we first meet her but she’s not having much luck. She associates with a most likely innocuous male friend (Pete Holmes) who feels like more of a nuisance than a sense of comfort for her. The film intersperses scenes of another male, one with long hair named Rodney Alcala (Zovatto) who commits the crime that opens the film. Rodney is a photographer and he lures his victims in by trying to charm them as he does with a young runaway girl, Amy (Autumn Best), who unfortunately crosses his path with devastating results.

This film finally sets its scenes on “The Dating Game” around the fact that Cheryl is doing the show as a means of work more than an actual attempt to meet someone of the opposite sex. Cheryl is smart and knows how to outwit the contestants who feel like they’re simply after one thing. When Rodney (contestant #3 on the show) answers her question, “What are girls for?” satisfactorily, there is the suspense surrounding the fact that Cheryl may be led to this killer’s dangerous wrath through his undeniable (if somewhat phony) charm.

The always reliable Tony Hale serves as Ed, the sexist host of “The Dating Game” who seems to view women as objects more than people. This movie is a great example of the sexism that existed in the 1970’s where women were deemed objects or possessions by certain men more than actual human beings. Even in Cheryl’s audition at the beginning of the film, she’s confronted with sexist and offensive viewpoints that threaten her ability to thrive in her selected career.

There are a number of great moments in Woman of the Hour but the non-linear structure of the movie could throw some of the film’s viewers for quite a loop. There’s a lot going on here including a woman named Laura (Nicolette Robinson) who is trying to make the TV show aware that Rodney is a creep and a potential threat to Cheryl. This film is set in a time before technology could link victims to their attacker but no matter what time it is set in, the overall horrific nature of the character of Rodney permeates the screen. It’s a wonderfully slimy characterization by Daniel Zovatto that helps guide the movie towards success.

Kendrick is amazingly sophisticated and brilliant in her role. She keeps Cheryl smart but she’s not always aware of what is going on, some of which is beyond her control. She has to decipher what is going on around her and must use her wits to stay one step ahead of the psychopath at large in the movie. Kendrick has never felt more real and genuine on-screen than in her work in this film. One feels sorry she is disrespected by the likes of Ed and other male characters throughout the picture.

Woman of the Hour is ultimately too sneaky in its lofty ambitions to be a wholly successful film but it’s a damn good one despite its flaws. Because of the frightening performance by Zovatto, one watches his character with disgust wondering how a person like him could end up on national television. This film also leads us to believe that the property of “The Dating Game” should forever be retired (yes, even “The Celebrity Dating Game”) because of Rodney’s association with the program. He tarnished the brand name and there should be respect for the women he killed by eliminating the program from ever coming back in any way, shape or form.

Cheryl is a well constructed character based on a real person and the script of the film by Ian McDonald works extremely well despite the basic structural problems which could leave more puzzled viewers trying to piece the events of the film together before the film does it for them. Still, Woman of the Hour is a startling and fascinating portrait of a sick individual during a time period when things were allowed to happen to innocent women that will hopefully never happen again.

Rating: 7.5/10

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