A True Crime Must-Watch Tops Netflix Charts

While many folks out there might know names like Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, or John Wayne Gacy, the sinister presence lurking behind Woman of the Hour, Rodney Alcala, is a lesser-known serial killer. But make no mistake as his crimes were equally as brutal and sadistic as the others. 

Both starring and serving as the feature-length directorial debut of Anna Kendrick, Woman of the Hour follows two stories that end up colliding with almost catastrophic consequences. The first is that of Cheryl Bradshaw – an aspiring actress whose career has hit a standstill. The other is of Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), a master of disguise who murdered numerous women over the course of several years and somehow eluded the law despite having a criminal background. 

The pair’s paths would fortuitously cross on an episode of the popular series, The Dating Game, in which Cheryl chose Rodney out of three possible bachelors to accompany her on a date. Following the game, the pair have drinks, and Cheryl’s instincts tell her to get away from him as soon as possible, which would ultimately save her life. Woven throughout the pair’s run-in on the dating competition show are some of the stories of the women who weren’t as lucky as Cheryl, with Woman of the Hour, paying homage to the victims of Rodney Alcala and letting their tales be heard.

Not only have audiences thoroughly taken to Woman of the Hour, but critics are also responding in an overly positive way. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie holds the Certified Fresh stamp of approval with a 91 percent critics’ approval rating, an incredibly impressive bragging right.

Part of the drive for Anna Kendrick to see Woman of the Hour come to screens around the world was due to finding herself trapped inside an abusive relationship with one of her ex-partners. The actress recently appeared on the podcast Call Her Daddy where she opened up about dating someone for a few years before they turned the tables on her and became abusive.

She added that since then, she’s wanted to make more serious projects rather than the ones that have so far dotted her career like both the Pitch Perfect and Trolls franchises with which she’s synonymous.

With her feature-length directorial debut out of the way in Woman of the Hour, the sky’s the limit for what Anna Kendrick can do as a filmmaker. While she hasn’t revealed what title she’ll pour her into next, we do know that she’s set to rejoin forces with Blake Lively in front of the camera in a follow-up to the 2018 film, A Simple Favor.

Head over to Netflix now to stream Woman of the Hour.