Woman of the Hour review: A rare serial killer thriller that highlights the plight of women!

In a way that we’ve never seen before, Woman of the Hour places women at the centre, while portraying the various shades and forms of violence against them.

More often than not, people confuse being seen with being looked at. An understanding look can foster connection and empathy, like when women offer each other support in difficult situations. In contrast, a piercing, objectifying gaze can make someone feel deeply uncomfortable, like how many women feel when ogled at by men. This distinction is central to Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, which delves into the constant dread women live with while being harassed in nearly every situation, often leading to the unseen horrifying reality of becoming victims or survivors of predators, including serial killers and rapists. Because when you constantly live in danger all the time it's hard to anticipate one approaching you!

The film is based on the true story of Rodney Alcala, a serial killer and rapist who infamously appeared on a dating game show in the late ‘70s, all while continuing his brutal spree. Call it a female touch as Anna Kendrick is as much behind the lens as she is in front of it, but this actress-director gives us a subversion of the crime-thriller while retaining the pumping tension of the genre. At first, the film’s structure may seem disorienting, with its use of time jumps cuts and dual perspectives—one from Alcala’s point of view, the other from Cheryl’s, a character based on one of his would-be victims. But as these perspectives intertwine when they finally meet, the film's layers reveals its sharp commentary on gaze, an idea that the movie constantly toys with!

Alcala's perspective, which largely shows his process of trapping his targets, reveals his whole act of being flirtatiously charming with his camera always there, capturing the vulnerable women ,until the gaze shifts and his calm half smile turns the atmosphere anxious and jittery. He slowly turns into this spine chilling presence! Cheryl’s perspective, on the other hand, follows her as a struggling artist in LA, reluctantly signing up for A Dating Show reminiscent of modern-day reality TV where accused are found in Houses and Islands are build for male gaze. But the casual sexism and misogyny aren’t confined to the show, though—they permeate the entire industry, in turn this patriarchal world where men feel entitled to play with a woman's hair, casually stroking and touching her, and judge women’s appearances as if is their birthright. 

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The brilliance of Kendrick’s film lies not in the what but in the how. The careful blocking of scenes, with meticulous character movements and extreme close-ups, unveils hidden layers of meaning. Each time Alcala assaults his victims, the camera doesn’t sensationalize the violence. Instead, it cheats the viewer with cuts and close-ups, so that we see the struggle hinting at the horror of the act without fully revealing it. This technique of hiding in plain sight calls out our own peering tendencies, which often feed on such depictions of suffering. Similarly, when Cheryl feels discomfort around men, either she is blocked by people or the camera tightens around her, as though suffocating her, capturing that unexplainable feeling of unease all too familiar to women.

I love watching psychological crime thrillers that explores the psyche of these maniacs, giving them an understanding and finding faults in the fractured set up of the society that had a hand in making them. But this is the first time where there is a delicate balance in between being looked at with sympathy and not absolving the criminal of his crimes that make him an enigmatic anti-hero. By the film’s end, Alcala is outsmarted by a teenage survivor who escapes him by playing his own game—playing the person. This moment feels like a victory, even if it’s bittersweet. 

Hence, Woman of the Hour, as the title suggests, puts Alcala’s survivors on the map, amplifying their voices, inevitably shedding light on what women endure in a male-dominated world. It captures the constant dread that something might go wrong, the inability to feel safe even around good men, the emotional toll of being gaslit by men whose actions contradict their words, and the devastating impact of this relentless pressure, as many women are forced to abandon their dreams simply because it becomes too overwhelming. 

Women of the Hour is currently streaming on LionsgatePlay!

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