The Reel Spooky Series continues with Woman of the Hour, Anna Kendrick's acclaimed directorial debut, based on the stranger-than-fiction true story of Cheryl Bradshaw, an aspiring actress in 1970s Los Angeles who steps in front of the cameras for an episode of The Dating Game — and unknowingly picks serial killer Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) as her match, while he's in the middle of a years-long murder spree.
What makes the film land harder than your average true-crime thriller is how little has actually changed. The questions it raises — about charm masking danger, about institutions and audiences dismissing women's instincts, about who gets believed and who doesn't — aren't locked in the 1970s. Nearly fifty years later, they're still the questions we're asking.
Joshua breaks down how Kendrick balances the film's tense thriller elements with sharp commentary on victim-blaming and the uncomfortable gender dynamics of the era, digs into Kendrick's own performance alongside Zovatto's unsettling turn as Alcala, and discusses whether this directorial debut warrants the high praise it's received.
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