Pisaries Creator

This short movie review has a few minor spoilers!

More Like Man of the Year

Woman of the Hour is about the serial killer Rodney Alcala (played by Daniel Zovatto) in the late 1970s and how he managed to charm his way onto a TV show called “The Dating Game.” While much of the focus is on Alcala’s public debut as one of three bachelors, equal focus is on the interplay of the time period and the views of men and women. The woman of the hour is Sheryl Bradshaw (played by Anna Kendrick) that came to Hollywood to be an actress. It was at the suggestion of her agent to be a contestant on “The Dating Game” show. Her prize at the end will be one of the bachelor’s she chooses after a series of questions posed by her and the bachelors. As you probably guessed, Sheryl picked Rodney for her date and meets him after the show for drinks. This is the last time she physically sees Rodney because unknown to her Rodney was hiding huge skeletons in his closet. Woman of the Hour was written by Ian McDonald and directed by Anna Kendrick with a running time of one hour and 35 minutes.

Spotlight on the Desperate and Predatory

I could go into depth about this time period and the relationships between men and women. I won’t except to say predators’ prey on perceived weak individuals. This is what Rodney Alcala did from the inside out. He was a wolf in sheep’s wool. He was a psychopath from the outside in. As in many murder cases in the 1970s up until even now, the killer could’ve been caught earlier had the detectives listened better to the survivors. This kind of indifferent treatment of called victims is what persuades many to not come forward because nothing happens and worse the victim is partially or fully blamed for what happened. Where there should be empathy and understanding, there is little. While we see how violent Alcala is once he feels safe himself, the violence isn’t overstated. The truth remains there are desperate young women wanting to be noticed as there are predatory young men willing to take their naivete for an unfortunate wild ride and sometimes to an early grave by the hands of someone like Alcala.

Watch the Trailer

Parting Comments on Woman of the Hour

Most women have been in a situation where they did not feel the most comfortable whether it be a date or in a group of friends with a few male strangers mixed in. Besides fraternity parties, there are other ways to put yourself in danger. I’m not saying conduct yourself as if someone is lurking around every corner because they aren’t. All I can say is it is best to be prepared but not to the point of never leaving your place for fear something bad might happen. Don’t dismiss your gut instincts about someone. You can feel silly later if your feelings are way off. It takes people of many shapes and sizes to fill the streets in any city and unfortunately some of them are bad apples. It’s the ones without the worms inside you want to have around.

I rate Woman of the Hour FOUR FINGERS at 90%.