Woman Of The Hour

It is based on the life of serial killer Rodney Alcala, who in 1978 appeared on the television show The Dating Game in the midst of his murder spree. The film revolves around the events of the game show and stars Kendrick as contestant Cheryl Bradshaw.

Woman of the Hour premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2023.

In 1978, serial killer Rodney Alcala appeared on The Dating Game and won a date with bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw. At the time, Alcala had murdered five women, and his strange facade during the episode later nicknamed him "The Dating Game Killer".

• Anna Kendrick as Cheryl Bradshaw
• Daniel Zovatto as Rodney Alcala
• Nicolette Robinson as Laura
• Tony Hale
• Kathryn Gallagher
• Kelley Jakle
• Autumn Best

In December 2017, Ian MacAllister McDonald's screenplay Rodney and Sheryl was featured on the Black List, an annual survey of the most popular scripts yet to be produced. In May 2021, Netflix announced it had bought a package around McDonald's script with Chloe Okuno on board as director and Anna Kendrick attached to star. In April 2022, with Netflix no longer attached, the film was sold at the Cannes Film Festival. It was revealed that Kendrick was now on board as director and producer as well as appearing as Cheryl Bradshaw, with the working title of the project now The Dating Game. In December 2022, a producer sued another producer for alleged fraud and breach of contract; The Dating Game was one of three films mentioned in the lawsuit.

Principal photography took place in Vancouver with Zach Kuperstein as cinematographer from October to December 2022.

Woman of the Hour premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2023, with Kendrick and the cast unable to attend due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Shortly after, Netflix, which was to distribute the film worldwide early in its development, reacquired distribution rights to the United States as well as some international territories for $11 million.

AGC Studios sold international rights to the film; among the companies which acquired the film were VVS Films in Canada, Signature Entertainment in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Roadshow Films in Australia and New Zealand, Empire Entertainment in South Africa, Kino Świat in Poland, Sahamongkol Film International in Thailand, Central Partnership in the CIS, Telepool in Germany and Lionsgate in India and Sri Lanka.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 49 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Deftly directed by star Anna Kendrick, Woman of the Hour uses an incredible true story as the foundation for a powerful examination of the intersection between systemic misogyny and violence." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Accolades