Woman of the Hour
Directed by Anna KendrickWoman of the Hour is based on the stranger-than-fiction true story of Cheryl Bradshaw and Rodney Alcala. Bradshaw was a bachelorette on the hit '70s TV matchmaking show The Dating Game and chose handsome and funny bachelor No. 3, Rodney Alcala. But behind Alcala's charming facade was a deadly secret: He was a psychopathic serial killer.
Where to Watch Woman of the Hour
Cast of Woman of the Hour
Woman of the Hour Ratings & Reviews
- Mr_David4d agoMain actor did a great job, movie is great, but the plot is horrible, just can’t watch these kind of movies, makes me mad as hell.
- DrinelsonJuly 3, 2025This was crazy. Such a good movie. If I wouldn’t have already known about this case, I would’ve had a hard time believing that this actually happened. Some of it is fiction but the main parts did truly happen. This man is twisted and horrible. The things that he would do is insane. And he went on a dating show in the middle of his killing spree… diabolical.
- parcolanJune 9, 2025Very good, recommend
- cgbranniganJanuary 25, 2025It was fine. Could have been better. Was expecting a true crime story but just part way through was clear a lot of it was fictionalised which I’ve since confirmed. Might have been a better movie if it was more true to real events.
- James KearneyDecember 2, 2024I do love a good true story and this one really makes you think about how bad a person can be.
- Kevin WardJuly 1, 2025Assured debut feature from Anna Kendrick. Can’t wait to see what she does next. Less about a serial killer and more of a portrait of what it is to be a woman in this world. Every interaction a calculation taking place. Even outside of the game show a determination to be made. “Which one of you will hurt me?” Really loved this. Was deserving of theatrical distribution. Production values looked gorgeous. Highly recommend.
- JohnJune 19, 2025This true story about a serial killer that got onto a dating show in the 70's is worth the watch. I wish the film had been structured differently and spent more time on the other victims instead of the show itself because those scenes were so powerfully done while the ones about the show felt cheesy
- Rob Logan | The Geek GenerationJanuary 14, 2025Solid first directorial effort by Anna Kendrick. The film looked great and it's properly tense, but suffers from some pacing issues as it jumps between multiple character perspectives. I understand that it's based on a true story, but I felt like it needed to take some liberties to make the plot feel like a more cohesive story as opposed to separate vignettes.
- EdwardJanuary 7, 2025This movie tries too hard to be too many things. It follows the trendy approach of having parallel plots without having direction. We never meet any of the characters long enough to properly care about them. I really wish there had just been more focus on a singular timeline.
- HakihikoDecember 16, 2024Style and Intrigue, But Lacks Focus "Woman of the Hour" offers a unique angle by blending true crime with the glitzy, often superficial world of reality television. While the premise is promising, the movie ultimately left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. I did enjoy certain aspects of it and wouldn't call it a bad film; it's clear the filmmakers put effort into crafting a neat and stylistic portrayal of a twisted story. However, the film struggles to find its focus, which dampens the impact it might have otherwise had. One of the movie's biggest issues is its pacing. It's a slow burn that, rather than building tension, drags the story along without a strong sense of momentum. The killer's story-the element that should form the backbone of the narrative-is present, but it feels somewhat diluted by the film's broader exploration of the dating show setup. Although the dating segments are actually well-executed and visually engaging, along with Cheryl's slice of life, they ultimately take up too much space in the film for my taste, especially considering its limited runtime. This extensive focus on these aspetcs might work better in a longer movie, but here it feels disproportionate, leaving too little time to delve deeply into the more complex psychological elements of the killer's character. The film's tone and aesthetic choices are spot on. The cinematography and production design bring out the eerie contrasts between the flashy, overly-staged atmosphere of the dating show and the dark undercurrent of the killer's story. It's a clever touch that highlights the juxtaposition between reality TV's facade and the real threat lurking beneath. The unsettling score is also well-used, adding a layer of tension, even if the narrative itself doesn't always sustain it. The performances are solid across the board, with the cast doing their best to elevate scenes that, at times, feel stretched or underwritten. There are some memorable moments that hint at the movie's potential, and these scenes showcase a glimmer of what "Woman of the Hour" could have been if the focus were tighter. If the film had devoted more time to exploring the killer's psychological depth or background, it might have achieved a greater impact. As it stands, there's a missed opportunity to dig into the mind of someone whose disturbing tendencies are masked by the charm necessary to appear on national television. In conclusion, while "Woman of the Hour" brings some interesting ideas to the table, it doesn't fully realize them. The balance between its storytelling and the portrayal of the dating show is off, resulting in a movie that feels a bit aimless. It's worth watching for its concept and its craft, but it doesn't quite achieve the depth or intrigue it seemed to promise.
- ChaChaBTacoNovember 6, 2024Doesn’t do anything new, but if you’re looking for a movie about a weirdo serial killer and good acting. This will do the job.
- Casper HørningNovember 2, 2024Chilling, and not a feel good movie.
- DJOctober 29, 2024The movie follows the crimes of Rodney Alcala in the late 70’s. Anna Kendrick picked a humdinger for her directorial debut. While she’s great (as usual) and the cast is as well it definitely has some pain points that distract from the film, such as pacing. Again, for a directorial debut it’s solid and the cast and story are as well. Expect some good suspense along the way as well.
- Randy HoopesOctober 29, 2024Really good true story.
- vangh1October 29, 2024I thought the concept of this movie was a little bit quirky and fun despite the plot revolving around a serial killer, and wow did this thing prove me wrong inside of the first scene. Incredibly hard to watch, incredibly sombre, incredibly harrowing despite Anna Kendrick bringing her trademark charisma in front of the camera, and a surprisingly adept touch from behind it. She takes a sort of empathetic path to the tone, with a number of scenes wrapping the lighting and score around the subject of the scene's mental state, pulling us as the viewer into the same state. It works far more often than it doesn't (The Great: Sheryl and Rod in the restaurant and the subsequent parking lot scene / The Less than Great: Laura waiting in a studio lobby and it's shot like the scariest horror movie you've ever seen) I've seen a lot of complaints about the structure and lack of chronological consistency as the story progresses, but I thought they doled information out at the right pace, in the right order. We open the movie in 1977 learning he is a killer before he's on the show. Then we jump to '78 where we learn he's on the show. Then we're in '79 and we learn he's still free and hunting young women, but we don't know about Sheryl's fate. The jump back to '71 indicates he's been doing what he's doing and getting away with it for a long time. And the movie labels each time line clearly so I thought it worked at providing new information in a non-confusing way. I was surprised to see so many people have issue with it. I'm generally not a fan of serial killer movies (and I'm sure I've said this in past reviews) because I've heard about war movies "It's impossible to depict them without glorifying them" and I definitely think that's the case with serial killers to some degree. There's no doubt this is a very empathetic take from the victim's perspectives, there's no doubt they show far more of Rod's horrors than humanizing moments or excuses for his violence but there's a marked difference between reading about his charm in a journalistic article and seeing it performed and feeling its effects. I think almost every male character is either actively a horrible person or stands idly by while it's clear some other man is being a horrible person and so the women are left to fend for themselves (or at best settle for an encouraging word from another female) which as I see it speaks to the failings of the systems and society at large that allowed Rodney to do what he did for so long without consequence. The climactic sequence with Autumn Best is equal parts bone chilling and awe-inspiring. Her performance throughout is phenomenal, but especially leading into the final sequence. I hate having to assign star ratings to movies after experiences like this. It's undeniably better than a 3.5 star movie, but I just struggle so much with true crime and serial killers stories on such a fundamental level that I can't give it any higher a score.
