Woman of the Hour review – Time to feel very uncomfortable

There will likely be those who roll credits on Woman of the Hour with a sense of relief that the real-life events depicted in actress Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut took place well over 40 years ago. It was a different time, these people will claim, things have changed a lot since then. Chances are, this response won’t be coming from any women in the audience, though. Because while Woman of the Hour may be set in the 1970s, it’s a timelessly relevant look at how women’s boundaries are often trampled, or said women simply aren’t listened to, with horrific consequences.

Bouncing back and forth over the decade in question, the action of true crime thriller Woman of the Hour is anchored by a hard-to-believe event: the time that serial killer Rodney Alcala (played by Daniel Zovatto) was so arrogant about his chance of being caught that he appeared on a popular TV dating show in the middle of one of his rape and murder sprees. In that particular episode of The Dating Game, aspiring actress Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick) had to choose between Alcala and two other bachelors, who trailed behind the sociopath in eloquence, smarts and charm.

Even if you don’t know how events played out in reality, there’s a strong sense that Woman of The Hour, written by Ian McDonald, avoids sensationalism. Then again, it doesn’t need to exaggerate or go off script. Simply by holding up a mirror to women’s everyday anxieties, the film is an uncomfortable and frequently chilling watch. It’s also a thematically dense 94 minutes, proving Pitch Perfect star Kendrick to be a sensitive and insightful filmmaker as she explores the subject matter with nuance. At the same time, she stops just short of showing the crimes in graphic detail for anyone triggered by depictions of gender-based violence.

As a side note, it’s interesting that we’ve already seen Zoe Kravitz achieve something similar this year with Blink Twice. There, the actress-turned-director-and-screenwriter also used a thriller to explore the grimmest side of female experience with razor-sharpness.

Like Kravitz, Kendrick makes similarly smart decisions in Woman of the Hour, although with little of Blink Twice’s humour, for obvious reasons. Primarily, the new film spotlights how predators exploit women’s societal conditioning to be “nice” and “accommodating,” encouraging them to push down their discomfort and wants to please others – typically men.

Parallel to this, Alcala is given moments of screen time to express panic and tearfulness. That may seem like a strange sympathetic choice for a figure who would strangle women, then revive them to torture them some more, but it ensures he remains human in the eyes of the audience. He’s no icy Michael Myers boogeyman. In fact, Alcala appears as just one step away from the men who objectify Cheryl, who touch her without consent and emotionally manipulate her into a state of demure compliance – and these are the good, socially upstanding guys.

Coming across like a younger Vincent D’Onofrio due to his imposing physical presence and quick-to-activate sense of menace, Zovatto does excellent work. That applies to the cast of Woman of the Hour across the board, though, with a particular standout being newcomer Autumn Best as Amy, a spirited runaway that Alcala pursues.

On that note, this isn’t a movie centred on the male killer. Woman of the Hour devotes time to each of Alcala’s victims, or, rather, the ones singled out for the film. Having positioned himself as a sensitive photographer, Alcala prompts his targets to tell their life story, to share their dreams and ambitions. While he will callously snuff out their futures, it does mean viewers see these women as real people as opposed to simply a statistic – photos on a true crime website or a name dropped in a podcast with no further context. Even if they only appear for five minutes, Kendrick ensures each victim gets their chance to be a Woman of the Hour. They deserve it after what was taken from them.

Importantly, there is also no victim shaming. Woman of the Hour acknowledges what women must do to survive. It would have been easy to present female assertiveness as a solution in every scene, but that isn’t the case in Kendrick’s film. Demonstrations of confidence and decisive action may lead to positive outcomes for some characters, but that isn’t the case for everyone. Some experience no change, even with loving, supportive men backing them up. On the flip side, it’s one moment of apologetic submissiveness, portrayed as an act of courage, that ultimately opens the door to justice.

Woman of the Hour is a powerful film but it’s absolutely not an easy watch. If you’ve ever crossed a dark street or parking lot, well aware of a man apparently shadowing you, or if you’ve found yourself having to defuse male rage armed only with a polite smile, you know what you can expect for an hour and a half here.

Woman of the Hour premiered at South African cinemas on 4 October. As of 18 October, just two weeks later, the film arrived on Netflix for home viewing.