The Reel Review
An aspiring actress in 1978 Los Angeles comes face to face with a serial killer when she chooses him as the winner in an episode of the TV game show The Dating Game. Anna Kendrick stars in and directs this mystery/crime thriller loosely based on the shocking true crime story.
The Dating Game aspect of the story is just the attention-grabbing hook in this serial killer crime thriller. Much of the film’s focus is on the pervasive misogyny and even gaslighting of victims and witnesses, some even forced to “play nice” to escape dangerous situations, that contributed to a permissive climate of violence towards women. It also does not shy away from a decade of incompetence and laziness by police, despite receiving so many tips and several arrests of registered sex offender Rodney Alcala, that allowed him to kill and kill again.
Kendrick, in an impressive directorial debut, shows a keen eye for creating tension and keeps the action taut despite the story being somewhat light on substance, with Zovatto (Station Eleven, Don’t Breathe) as the almost too obviously creepy serial killer and Tony Hale (Veep) as a sleazy, sexist version of the TV game show host. The finale, which also takes some liberties (while it did happen, it was not how Alcala was caught), is intense, making Woman of the Hour a solid hour-and-a-half thriller that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
REEL FACTS
• Anna Kendrick says because the actual episode of The Dating Game appears to no longer exist, she was able to take some dramatic license with Cheryl Bradshaw’s appearance on the game show, highlighting the sexist nature of it.
• Initially sentenced to death for the murder of at least five women and girls, and believed to possibly have killed more than 100 more, The Dating Game Killer Rodney Alcala died in 2021 of natural causes at age 77 while in prison. Because of his status as a registered sex offender, California authorities had questioned and released Alcala as a potential suspect in the Hillside Strangler killings of the 1970s, without realizing he was in the midst of his own killing spree.
• Rodney Alcala was arrested in 1979 after his parole officer recognized him in a sketch of a man who had been seen in the recent abduction and murder of a 12-year-old girl who was riding her bike to ballet class. Authorities also uncovered a treasure trove of photographs that Alcala had taken of his victims, along with souvenirs from them, typically jewelry.
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