Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, tells the story of Cheryl Bradshaw (also played by Kendrick). Bradshaw is a struggling actress who appears on as a bachelorette on The Dating Game, a TV game show where bachelors compete for an all-expense paid trip with said bachelorette. The day she appears, serial killer and registered sex offender, Rodney Alcala, wins the show.
If you’re unfamiliar with that story, it did in fact happen. I remember watching the clip of Alcala on the show a few years ago in disbelief about how comfortable and confident he seemed in the spotlight, knowing that he was in the middle of committing the worst sort of crimes. Woman of the Hour doesn’t take a look at his past or his motivations, but rather at the culture that allowed him to breeze through his crimes with no repercussions or sense of caution. The film follows Cheryl in her life leading up to the show, and Alcala as he commits different crimes before and after the show. Woman retells the accounts of police reports that were not followed through, as women were told to do nothing but smile and look pretty, or thought to be overreacting when complaints are made. It shows how sometimes, women have to pleasantly play along in our encounters with men to avoid potential violence.
I appreciate that this film is told from the perspective of the women. For someone who seemed to always want to be the centre of attention, I’m glad that Alcala doesn’t get to take up more space in the conversation than is absolutely necessary. Kendrick moves the story in such a way that he appears more as a random man that continues to show up rather than the main character.
I’ve said this before, but I think looking at the ‘why’s’ will be very beneficial to our society. In this case, I the question would be, ‘why do we have men who feel so entitled to the attention/affection of women that rejection from them justifies violence against them?’ And if we’re able to identify, as this film does, that it starts with the culture we create, what can we do to fix it?
Woman of the Hour is now playing at TIFF ’23. For more information, click here.
