Anna Kendrick's Directorial Debut 'Woman of the Hour' Is Based on a Horrifying True Story

Actor Anna Kendrick is a well-known star from her roles in Pitch Perfect and Twilight, plus many more. Yet for all her years in Hollywood, she's never been at the helm.

That is changing with her directorial debut in Woman of the Hour. The actor and singer is both directing and starring in the Netflix film.

The movie is a crime thriller about a serial killer who preys on women. But it's more than just an unsettling story; it's based on a true and horrifying story about the crimes of serial killer Rodney Alcala, known as the Dating Game Killer.

In the Netflix movie, Anna plays Sheryl, an aspiring actor who goes on The Dating Game to pay her bills. There, Sheryl meets Rodney Alcala, played by Daniel Zovatto.

In reality, it was a woman named Cheryl Bradshaw who met Rodney on the show, and who escaped with her life by luck.

Rodney, a serial killer who appeared on the real show in the 1970s, somehow evaded background checks despite the fact that he had served 34 months in prison for raping an 8-year-old child named Talia Shapiro in 1972.

In real life, Rodney billed himself as a "successful photographer" and charmed Cheryl with his answers on the show. At one point, he made a witty comment about being a banana and he wanted Cheryl to "peel" him.

But as with most serial killers, the truth was far darker than anyone could imagine. Rodney was indeed a photographer. He photographed his victims, including what authorities believe may be as many as 100 women whom he assaulted and murdered.

However, he was only convicted of murdering five women.

In reality, Cheryl found that when the stage lights dimmed, so did Rodney's charm. In a 2012 interview, Newsweek reports that she "started to feel ill" when they met after she chose him as her winner and he looked for a date.

She continued, "He was acting really creepy. I turned down his offer. I didn’t want to see him again.” Her rejection and subsequent avoidance of Rodney may have saved her life.

Anna has spoken about playing the role of Sheryl, calling it her "most revealing" film ever. Although Woman of the Hour centers around Rodney, it also touches on important themes such as women's roles in Hollywood, equality, and feeling dehumanized in the face of violence.

She told Rolling Stone, “I felt like the question in the air for a lot of Sheryl’s story is ‘Hang on, do you see me as human or something else?’ ” And in scenes where there is violence, or at least the hint of it, she drew from her own experience as a woman. The actor added, “It’s this nameless, amorphous threat that’s in the room all the time — but you can’t fight it if you can’t even really find it.”

Although the real Rodney died in prison in 2021 after finally being brought to justice in 1980, the story is being revived for the Netflix movie. Instead of glorifying what Rodney did and re-victimizing family of those he killed, Anna's hope is that telling the story allows people to take a fresh look at “the risk of annihilation we expose ourselves to through intimacy," she said of the movie.

The film will allow people to take a fresh look at the misogyny that runs through American culture. And that misogyny creates an environment for men like Rodney to thrive without facing consequences or even suspicion if he's charming enough. Anna wanted the film to pose the ever-present question, “What’s actually happening here?”

Woman of the Hour will stream on Netflix starting October 18, 2024.