So many filmmakers say actors make the best directors; hell, Francis Ford Coppola said so himself yesterday. And so in that tradition of actors expanding into directing, the latest to make that leap is actress Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air,” “Pitch Perfect,” “A Simple Favor”). Her directorial debut is “Woman Of The Hour,” a film that was a festival hit out of the Toronto International Film Festival last year (read our review).
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Truth is stranger than fiction, and so, accordingly, “Woman Of The Hour” is based on a strange true story about a woman who met a serial killer on a dating game show in the 1970s, when such shows were immensely popular.
Kendrick stars as Sheryl Bradshaw, and she also directed the film from a script by Ian McDonald (his script landed on the Black List in 2017) and up-and-comer Daniel Zovatto (“It Follows,” “Lady Bird, “Station Eleven”) plays Rodney Alcala, the killer.
The supporting cast includes Tony Hale (“Veep,” “Arrested Development”), Nicolette Robinson (“The Affair,” “One Night in Miami”), Autumn Best (“4400”), Kathryn Gallagher (HBO Max’s “Gossip Girl” and the Broadway musicals “Jagged Little Pill” and “Spring Awakening”) and Kelley Jakle (“Pitch Perfect,” “42”).
“The Dating Game” might launch the story, but Kendrick told EW recently that the film’s dark psychological layers are much more important.
“I think I was aware of the story in the way that I have found about 50 percent of the population to be aware of the story, which is to say, ‘Oh yeah, I heard about that,’” Kendrick said. “And really, what we’ve heard is once upon a time, there was a very violent, dangerous murderer who went on ‘The Dating Game.’ But once I signed on to direct and I got to dive into some research and make tweaks, to me, the fact that he went on ‘The Dating Game’ is the least interesting part of the story.”
Here’s the official synopsis:
The stranger-than-fiction story of an aspiring actress in 1970s Los Angeles and a serial killer in the midst of a yearslong murder spree, whose lives intersect when they’re cast on an episode of The Dating Game.
Producers on the project include Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J.D. Lifshitz, and Raphael Margules. “Woman Of The Hour” opens on Netflix on October 18. Watch the full official trailer below.
