Woman of the Hour- Film Review (Eng-Esp)

Interest in serial killer stories portrayed in documentaries, films or series has increased considerably in recent years. Personally, I have consumed the content of murderers almost like a fan of series such as "Criminal Minds", "Dexter" and the different "CSI"; but I think that there has been a new boom in streaming platforms since the "Dahmer" series, which of course I also saw.

WOMAN OF THE HOUR is a film based on real events that took place in the 70s in the United States, about the murderer Rodney Alcala, who even had the nerve to participate in a television program about dating, and hence the title of this film, although we also got it under the name Woman of the Hour.

Starring Anna Kendrick, who is also making her debut as a director. It takes us to know this story with a respectful narration towards the victims and the viewer, and I say this because although it shows us all the violence with which the murderer Rodney Alcalá carried out his rapes and murders, it does not do so in such an explicit way that it is difficult to see.

We can get to know the facts without euphemisms, but with a lot of respect and caution, which I greatly appreciate as a viewer, since these stories are really that terror that keeps me up at night, that full of reality and not the terror of exorcisms, monsters, etc.

Anna Kendrick plays Cheryl Bradshaw, an aspiring actress who hasn't been doing very well, and a friend gets her the opportunity to participate in a popular television show in those years, where she asks three single men questions, and based on their answers she chooses one of them to enjoy a prize. Cheryl attends the show with the purpose of giving her more visibility and opportunities as an actress.

One of the single men, the murderer Rodney Alcalá, played by Daniel Zovatto, attends this show. We will learn about this murderer and his victims through the narration of how he took advantage of other girls, posing as a photographer and convincing them to be his models, then raping and killing them.

In this post I will not give spoilers about how all the facts lead to the arrest of the murderer Rodney Alcalá. If you are like me and did not know about it, then I recommend that you watch the movie without doing any research on this real case.

• El vestuario y maquillaje de los años 70 fue preciosa. Aunque no viví esa época, si reconozco y admiro muchos detalles emblemáticos de ella como las vestimentas de las mujeres, sus peinados, los diferentes estilos de las chicas que ya comenzaban a salirse de la norma y definirse por su forma de pensar. Todos esos elementos son muy cuidados en la película.

• La ambientación como las locaciones, los autos, las paletas de colores, la decoración del canal de televisión, todo es perfecto y nos transporta a esa época.

• Las actuaciones fueron absolutamente creíbles, no solo de los protagonistas, sino en general de todos.

• Las violaciones y asesinatos no fueron explícitas en la película, y eso me parece un gran respeto hacia las víctimas reales, sus familias y para el espectador también.

• Se reflejó el machismo de la época, donde no daban mucha importancia a denuncias de las mujeres.

• I think the film is narrated as if we know the facts. In my case it wasn't like that, it wasn't like Dahmer or the Menendez Brothers case; I was completely unaware of this story, and I felt it was a bit superficial in that sense.

• Although the film does show us when the police arrest the murderer Rodney Alcalá, I felt that it was missing as part of the story. I think it lacked developing a climax, that moment of maximum tension and emotion in the story.

• Lack of character development that would allow us to empathize more or get to know them. I think they wasted a lot of valuable time that would have been spent developing more the stories of the victims that they present to us in the film.

WOMAN OF THE HOUR is a movie I recommend watching to learn about these facts, considering the aspects I mentioned above that I liked. Also, it is valuable to know this first work of Anna Kendrick as a Director and follow her career from this point on now.

Currently we can see it on the Netflix platform.