Screen Your Contestants

 

I'm notoriously not someone who savors a genre film ripped from the headlines. I like to revel in the horror of fictional creations, not watch a retelling of a real person's pain. 

That being said, Woman of the Hour held a certain appeal for two reasons: 1) as the directorial debut of Anna Kendrick, an actress I've always found to be particularly fascinating onscreen and 2) this is a damn weird story.

Quick Plot: Sheryl is a struggling actress trudging through disappointing audition after disappointing audition in LA. When her agent books her a fairly thankless spot on The Dating Game, she reluctantly fluffs her hair and ekes out a charming smile to take on her bachelors. 

Bachelor #3 is Rodney, a free-spirited photographer who easily trumps his fellow contestants by showing a quick wit and sensitive side. It's ironic because, you know, Rodney also happens to be a serial killer who targets vulnerable young women. 

Throughout Woman of the Hour, we see Rodney over the course of several years in his murder spree. As a photographer, he has a quick in for many aspiring models. As a fairly nondescript, good-looking man, he can also find his way in the right place at the right time. There are brushes with the authorities over the years, but even an audience member named Laura recognizing the man on stage as the last person seen with her dead friend can be written off by dubious male detectives. 

Meanwhile, Sheryl finds some form of strength on live TV when she decides to give the horribly sexist cue cards an on-the-fly rewrite. It doesn't please the host, but it brightens the female hair and makeup team's day. After the show, she grabs a drink with Rodney and gets a glimmer of just what kind of man he might be.

Woman of the Hour has a lot on its mind, but its primary theme is incredibly strong. We live in a patriarchal society, and with that comes horrors both great and small. You're usually the person with the least power in any room. Oh, and if you're alone in the room with the wrong man of power, he might do some terrible things. 

In discussing her directorial debut, Anna Kendrick referenced the famous Margaret Atwood quote that sums up quite a lot of her film: men are afraid women will laugh at them, women are afraid men will kill them. 

In Woman of the Hour, we see both happen, and more importantly, we see intelligent, quick-thinking women save their own lives by being incredibly cautious to not laugh (or scream). It's not a great place to live. Earlier in the film, we see how Sheryl's people-pleasing puts her in the wrong situations. She sleeps with a neighbor she clearly doesn't care much for simply because she feels bad for leading him on. It's not comparable to Rodney brutalizing his victims, but there's a straight line to how he's able to put himself alone in an apartment with one who has to nicely ask him to leave before meeting her death.

These are lines we toe, and Kendrick shows a lot of skill in bluntly putting it out there without directly saying the quiet part out loud. Ian McDonald's script was clearly on the blacklist for good reasons, and Kendrick seemed to be the perfect match. Much like The Shining Girls, the emphasis is ultimately on the women, never reveling in Rodney's violence. We see what we have to in order to understand the weight of this man. But this is not his story.

High Points

This kind of dead girl narrative can be rough, but there is a key light to some of the interactions between the female characters that helps lend the film a certain heart. It's a tiny moment, but a small nod between Sheryl and a waitress helps to remind the audience that you're not always alone

Low Points

While I think the sideline story of Laura recognizing Rodney and dealing with her own frustrations does a lot to fuel the gaslight, it also never quite gels with the rest of the film

Lessons Learned

Always know the fake number you're giving out to creeps

When moving into an NYC walkup, do everything in your power to make sure you hear that mover ring the doorbell. It's literally the difference between life and death (in this case) or life and a very strained back

Rent/Bury/Buy

I'm sure there are multiple documentaries about Rodney Alcala, and I'll never watch any of them because much like this film, I don't care about this man. Woman of the Hour probably plays with the facts to make its narrative move, but it does so to explore the way women navigate the violence of men. It's thoughtful, dark, and weirdly entertaining in ways that I'm still kind of playing around with in my head. This is another movie that I'll likely revisit with a different lens sometime down the road. Find it on Netflix.