While she’s mainly known for comedy, actress Anna Kendrick (“Pitch Perfect,” “A Simple Favor”) has really done it all: drama, comedy, genre films, thrillers, animated films, and more. But her next effort is her most ambitious yet, her directorial debut with the dark period crime thriller, “Woman Of The Hour.” Making its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, “Woman Of The Hour” is finally coming out this fall via Netflix (read our review).
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The film is based on a true-to-life story that is chilling and creepy to hear about. Set in the 1970s, Rodney Alcala went on a murder spree, luring women by posing as a photographer looking for models. Though already a registered sex offender and recently released from prison, he infamously appeared on the popular “The Dating Game,” a show that introduced a set of three new bachelors each week, hidden from view as a woman asked them amusing questions before choosing a winner to go on an all-expenses-paid trip with her.
Kendrick’s directorial debut chronicles the story of Alcala meeting a woman on that show and the ensuing stressful events. Kendrick stars as “The Dating Game” contestant Cheryl Bradshaw, and Daniel Zovatto plays Alcala. If Zovatto seems like an unknown, he is only for now. The actor put in a head-turning performance as a messianic cult leader in the acclaimed HBO series “Station Eleven,” and it’s only a matter of time until he pops in a big way—“Woman Of The Hour” should only help.
Written by Ian McDonald (“The Hummingbird Tree”) and produced by Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, J.D. Lifshitz, and Raphael Margules, “Woman Of The Hour” also co-stars Tony Hale, Nicolette Robinson, Pete Holmes, Autumn Best, Kathryn Gallagher, and Kelley Jakle.
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.
“Woman Of The Hour” premieres on Netflix on October 18. Watch the first trailer below.