“Woman of the Hour” is almost here.
The movie, which debuted at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival to an enthusiastic response, finally hits Netflix on November 18. And a new trailer for the film, which is stars Anna Kendrick (who also produced and directed the film), gives you a new idea about what to expect. Watch it below.
“Woman of the Hour” is based on the real-life case of Rodney Alcala (played in the film by Daniel Zovatto), who in the midst of a years-long killing spree showed up as a contestant on “The Dating Game.” (At the time he had conclusively murdered five women but the number could have been much, much higher.) Kendrick plays Cheryl Bradshaw, the woman that he won a date with, who could have been his sixth victim. It doesn’t get much creepier.
The journey of the film getting to the screen has had nearly as many twists and turns. Ian MacAllister McDonald’s screenplay, originally titled “Rodney and Sheryl,” appeared on the Black List of hottest unproduced screenplays, in 2017. In 2021, Netflix boarded the project as a producer with “Watcher” filmmaker Chloe Okuno as director. By spring 2022, both Netflix and Okuno were off the project, and Kendrick had stepped in as director, producer and star. (At that time the title was “The Dating Game.”) The film shot in the fall of 2022 and produced by BoulderLight. Following its premiere at TIFF, Netflix reacquired distribution rights for $11 million.
When the movie premiered at TIFF it was warmly reviewed, with our own review saying that “first-timer Kendrick manages to make her film both weirdly entertaining and thoroughly disturbing.”
“Woman of the Hour” arrives on Netflix on October 18. Prepare to be disturbed.
