Anna Kendrick is cool. She gives off a plucky energy that makes you think “I bet she’d be fun to hang out with”. With her directorial debut she shows us that there’s far more to her than that. Based on how she presents Woman of the Hour, I’d wager she could easily move into other genres. Horror stands out as an option based on the tension she wrings out despite us having a reasonable idea how things will pan out.
The film is based on real life serial killer Rodney Alcala. He was convicted of multiple murders and could be responsible for up to 130. In 1978 he appeared on the television show The Dating Game – mid murder spree. What’s scary isn’t the violence, which is tastefully shown. No, it’s how useless everyone is, men in particular. Yet it never feels as though it’s male bashing. It’s more a reflection on how sad the whole situation is. Gaslighting abounds as concerns are casually brushed aside or mistreated. Even men we might consider “good guys” – they even think of themselves as such – are dismissive or suggest things are being blown of proportion.
The intersection of misogyny and violence makes for an unsettling ninety minutes.
This isn’t my usual sort of film. And I wasn’t even sure I’d review it at first. But films get lost on Netflix and this is worth watching.
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