Woman of the Hour Movie Review: Anna Kendrick has always been excellent as an actress. With her distinctive screen presence and ability to highlight moments of truth even in the most difficult situations, she is an actress who is quietly relatable. Woman of the Hour, his directorial debut, takes that promise up several notches – proving him to be a formidable talent behind the screen as well.
It’s a difficult subject for a first-time director – dealing with multiple storylines, and involving a true crime saga that takes place in 1970s California. Kendrick not only highlights the tension, but also deeply examines what it means to be a woman in a male-dominated society – to simply exist. (Also read: All We Imagine as Light review: Payal Kapadia’s deep compassion for Mumbai is the best film of the year)
a true crime thriller
Woman of the Hour catches up with a haunting introduction. A young woman confides in Rodney (Daniel Zovatto), a photographer, about her recent painful breakup. He comes closer and soon, she realizes that she needs to immediately run away to save her life. But it is too late. It centers on Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick herself, in a definitive performance), an aspiring actor who is close to giving up on her dreams after being unable to make it through auditions, where she is snubbed by men. .
At the request of a friend, Cheryl agreed to star in a TV show, The Dating Game, which aired in 1978. Incredibly, this is where the same photographer turns up as a contestant. He is Bachelor No. 3. He knows what to say, when to stop. He knows he is here to win the girl. A woman in the audience (what a scene-stealing turn from Nicolette Robinson!) recognizes this man. The stage is set for something truly terrible to happen.
A study of casual sexism
Multiple instances will be intertwined during this live show, examining how the same man, Rodney Alcala, lures young women into his sinister intentions. Ian McDonald’s script is excellent at drawing out these small and terrifying links to give the violence just enough extreme and giving the victims some kind of agency. However, the centerpiece of the film is the scenes involving the dating show and how it is broadcast. Kendrick, working with cinematographer Zach Kuperstein, shows a ferocious eye for blocking and space, the way he controls different viewpoints in the same shot.
Turns out, the truth is stranger than fiction. Moreover, the reality is even more scary and exhausting. Kendrick is able to touch on the casual, everyday sexism that women face at work and in the entertainment industry, where everything she presents as a woman is underpinned by a deeply misogynistic male gaze. Is. The serial killer unit is just a loose theory among a bunch of men who are united in a single line of fragile ego.
Woman of the Hour does a good job of taking the serial killer’s story as a starting point to try and listen to the horrors of the everyday livelihoods of women when their voices are not only sidelined, but Are practically silenced. Antidote is more than just one man’s horrifying true story. This story tells about the patriarchal system that hides and protects such a monster. Woman of the Hour is an intelligent and fascinating work, undoubtedly a major moment for its star and director Anna Kendrick.
Woman of the Hour premieres November 29 on Lionsgate Play.