Anna Kendrick makes her directorial debut with The Woman of the Hour.
In her directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, Anna Kendrick spotlights the story of Sheryl Bradshaw, an aspiring actor on the verge of giving up on her dream career. Landing one last job thanks to her agent, she’s cast on the popular 70s game show The Dating Game, where she finds herself selecting the most charming of her three suitors: Rodney Alcala, the as-yet unconvicted serial killer and rapist known today as the Dating Game Killer.
“The reason the story of this dangerous person going on The Dating Game is so compelling is because it’s this real-life metaphor that taps into this question about who we trust,” says Kendrick of her film, which is based on a true story. “Obviously, it’s just a silly game show, but it serves as this perverse delivery system to talk about the dread of wondering, How much can you really know about a person? Who is on the other side of this curtain?”
Behind the scenes with Anna Kendrick
In the film, Sheryl’s experience is interwoven with those of Alcala’s victims. “We tried to balance what people may not know about the story without getting lost in the weeds,” says Kendrick. “There are so many heartbreaking and enraging details.”
Alongside Kendrick (A Simple Favor, Pitch Perfect), the film stars Daniel Zovatto (It Follows, Station 11) as Alcala and features a talented ensemble including Tony Hale (Veep), Kathryn Gallagher (Gossip Girl), Nicolette Robinson (The Affair), and Pete Holmes (Crashing). Written by Ian McDonald, Woman of the Hour sheds light on the ways in which women survived a real-world serial killer and the sexism of the era that allowed him to persist.
