To the lives eclipsed by dread
The daily horrors of womanhood in Woman of the Hour (2024)
Womanhood can often feel like being a human-shaped target.
When it's dark out, we walk hurriedly from point A to point B, throwing apprehensive glances over our shoulders every few strides. Our keychains are trimmed with pepper sprays and safety alarms. Any sudden sound prompts the fear: Is someone following me?
These everyday horrors of simply existing as a woman are a common theme across a number of movies and shows. Now, Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, joins the ranks. But how well does it stand up in this subgenre?
Woman of the Hour tells the true story of Sheryl Bradshaw who, as an unenthused contestant on a 1970s dating gameshow, crosses paths with the serial killer Rodney Alcala. How? You might wonder. Well, he’s one of the gameshow’s anonymous bachelors, of course.
Throughout the film, we see Alcala – whose television appearance prompted his nickname, “The Dating Game Killer” – charming young women and girls with his portrait photography skills and eventually leading them to their deaths. The murders are horrific in their casual yet calculated strategy and establish an unshakeable sense of fear in Bradshaw’s eventual encounter with Alcala on the gameshow set.
While I’m rarely disappointed by a biographical movie, Woman of the Hour is, however, in want of a focused narrative drive that connects us to its characters. Besides the final act, which is effective in its palpable anxiety, the story overall feels emotionally detached and scattered as it flashes between the gameshow’s live recording and Alcala’s killings. This story could’ve benefitted from an extra thirty minutes to really get into who these characters are without relying on the extensive epilogue text for further context.
That being said, this story is important in the way that stories about this subject matter inherently are. It’s been reassuring to see men talking about Woman of the Hour online, especially encouraging other men to watch it. This then made me wonder whether the film’s impact on me was dampened by the fact that the movie’s hair-raising moments felt familiar to me as a woman who’s lived the wariness of the presence of strange men in my vicinity.
Woman of the Hour is a solid directorial debut from Anna Kendrick whose signature wit shines through in the leading role of Sheryl Bradshaw. Although the movie’s intrigue predominantly hinges on it being a true story, it nonetheless expresses the dread that eclipses the day-to-day experiences of being a woman.
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Kristen Harding
