‘Woman of the Hour’ Review: Anna Kendrick’s Directorial Debut Is Chilling Even When It Stumbles – Hollywood Reporter

Final yr, Anna Kendrick starred in Mary Nighy’s disquieting drama of abuse Alice, Darling. The actress performed a lady undone by her accomplice’s psychological manipulations, pulling from her personal experiences in an abusive relationship to form the character. Her efficiency — delicate, gripping — sustained the movie’s ambiance of dread.  

In Girl of the Hour, Kendrick builds on the work she began in Alice, Darling — however now she can be behind the digicam for this unnerving dramatization of serial killer Rodney Alcala’s look on a relationship recreation present whereas within the midst of his homicide spree. Girl of the Hour, which premiered at TIFF earlier than its Netflix acquisition, is an formidable try to subvert true-crime style expectations by giving voice to the survivors and victims of Alcala’s rampage. 

The movie experiments with time jumps and perspective shifts to create an impressionistic portrait of the murders. Its motion kicks off in 1977 with Rodney, a photographer (Daniel Zovatto), coaxing a lady named Sarah (Kelly Jakle, Pitch Good) into enjoyable and sharing particulars of her private life. The pair are conducting a photograph shoot in a distant mountain area of Wyoming. Their flirty banter takes on a sinister edge when Rodney caresses the lady’s face and tries to choke her. A chase, a battle and her demise comply with. Many of the murders depicted in Girl of the Hour adhere to this sample, underscoring the brutality of Rodney’s course of. 

A time soar brings us to 1978, the place we meet Cheryl (Kendrick), an aspiring actress dwelling in Los Angeles. She is in the midst of an audition the place casting administrators critique her efficiency in callous, objectifying phrases. Kendrick, as director, is especially thinking about close-ups of the physique and portraying bodily imposition. She and DP Zach Kuperstein give attention to the best way Rodney grips Sarah’s torso and the way the younger girl kicks her legs in an try to interrupt free. When Cheryl returns to her condominium after the failed audition, the digicam trains us to look at how her neighbor (Pete Holmes), a person with a transparent crush, blocks her path to pressure dialog. These moments provoke a visible grammar that the movie abandons because it builds to its climactic scene. 

The Courting Recreation, like its up to date counterparts, is a platform for misogyny and sexism. When Cheryl’s agent books her as a contestant, the actress hesitates to simply accept the job. A number of reminders about her stagnant profession push her to say sure, and as Rodney continues murdering girls, Cheryl prepares for her debut. Girl of the Hour’s time shifts develop into tougher to comply with as it really works towards Rodney and Cheryl’s paths intersecting. 

The movie introduces Rodney’s victims solely moments earlier than they’re murdered, which turns them into narrative ciphers. The non-chronological hopskotching makes it onerous to find out what has occurred earlier than Rodney’s look on the sport present and what transpires after. Zovatto, who performed the sinister prophet character in Station Eleven, channels the same power because the serial killer in Girl of the Hour. His efficiency — marked by an unhurried stroll to assault his goal and a chilling half-smile — is the muse onto which Kendrick and screenwriter Ian MacAllister McDonald construct the movie’s anxious and jittery ambiance. 

The place Girl of the Hour feels most totally realized is when Cheryl and Rodney meet on The Courting Recreation, on which he seems as a contestant. By this level we all know he’s a killer and, because of Kendrick’s efficiency, we’ve constructed some sympathy for Cheryl (an in any other case shallow character). This ups the stakes of their interactions, mediated by the presence of a reside viewers and the present’s host (Tony Hale). Among the many folks watching The Courting Recreation that day is Laura (Nicolette Robinson), a lady who instantly acknowledges Rodney and tries to warn the present’s producers. Portraying this case as a thriller-esque race in opposition to time — assisted by Ramy composers Dan Romer and Mike Tuccillo’s rating — heightens Girl of the Hour’s unsettling temper. 

The movie pulls off the strain of the pivotal second when Cheryl, perturbed by Rodney’s angle, tries to flee his consideration, however it stumbles on its technique to its high-wire finale. In one other timeline, this one in 1979, we meet Amy (a wonderful Autumn Finest), a homeless teenager who encounters Rodney in California. Her story additionally ends with escape, and her harrowing journey to security affirms that regardless of Girl of the Hour’s typically shaky execution, its story is undeniably highly effective.