Pitch Perfect star Anna Kendrick is stepping behind the camera for the first time to bring us Woman of the Hour – a movie that looks at the true story of a male serial killer appearing on a dating show in the middle of spree. He won the show, in fact.
Anna will play Cheryl Bradshaw, a bachelorette on the show who dates the killer, named Rodney Acala. In real life, Rodney appeared on The Dating Game in 1978. He became known as the “Dating Game Killer” after being convicted as a sex offender and serial killer and sentenced to death.
The movie will take on this true story. A review by The Daily Beast described Woman of the Hour as “a true-crime thriller that also operates as a damning commentary on societal misogyny”. So not only do we think it’ll be super compelling and interesting, but a really important look at the dangers women must navigate when sharing a dating world with men, as well as the questionable morality of dating shows, which we arguably have more of now than we did in the 1970s.
Here’s everything we know about Woman of the Hour.
Woman of the Hour plot
A plot synopsis of the movie from Netflix’s TUDUM reads as follows: “Woman 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.”
It adds that Woman of the Hour “explores the way women navigate a world of violent men”.
Woman of the Hour cast
Joining Anna Kendrick will be Daniel Zovatto as Rodney Alcala, Kathryn Gallagher (Gossip Girl) Nicolette Robinson, Kelley Jakle, Pete Holmes and Tony Hale.
Woman of the Hour release date
Woman of the Hour will be released on Netflix on 18 October.
Woman of the Hour trailer
We’re not going to lie, the trailer has got us obsessed already. We see Anna’s Cheryl prepare for her appearance as the bachelorette on The Dating Game, with an assistant telling her that the most important thing is for her to smile and laugh over and over.
The trailer also shows Cheryl and Rodney’s unsettling first date, where he talks about being “seen” and not hiding who he is. We are shown shocking footage of him hurting his victims, while Cheryl sits opposite the table from him.
It’s all incredibly eerie, a super brave move from Anna for her directorial debut – we’re intrigued to see more.