Review ‘Woman of the Hour’

The world is no stranger to ‘blind date’ horror stories. Just a few months ago, Twisters star Glen Powell went viral on TikTok for recounting a chilling tale about a woman who went on a Hinge date with a stranger who offered to give her a massage. She’d opted to leave after a few minutes, feeling uncomfortable, and visited a doctor the next day only to discover the oil the man had used was a compound designed to break down human flesh. So basically, this guy was going to eat her.

It’s only fair that if I pay for dinner, the woman offers up dessert.

In an interview with Netflix’s Tudum, screenwriter of Woman of the Hour Ian McDonald references Anna Kendrick’s creative decision to sign on as the film’s director. According to McDonald, the allure of this story to Kendrick lied in “the danger that comes with our willingness to be intimate with another person.”  Kendrick’s directorial debut premieres exclusively in theatres by VVS Films on October 11, 2024.  Based on true events, Woman of the Hour follows Sheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick), a struggling actress who finds herself in a dangerous situation once she becomes a contestant on a popular dating show and is paired with a serial killer.

Warning. If you take a shot every time a woman apologizes in this film for something she shouldn’t need to apologize for, you’ll likely die from alcohol poisoning. And possibly even wither to dust.

Woman of the Hour is loaded with a number of brilliantly subtle touches that pull the atmosphere of this film through the screen. It does well in illustrating the ways women are treated—both flagrant and nuanced—and channels a level of fear that rivals the sheer primalities of our animal kingdom. Predators and prey. The visuals and sound design are dripping with imaginative intent. It’s clear Kendrick and McDonald did their research when crafting scenes centered around victims. It builds a visceral environment and brings a shade of truth to this retelling that allows the film to play at times like a true crime documentary. Kendrick forces audiences to watch in horror as these women are hurt, slowing the pace and making every attack long—grueling—endless. As they surely are to experience firsthand. Darkly humorous in its representation of our society, one of my favourite subtleties of this film is in how men physically cannot hear women saying the word no in any scenario. As if the word simply doesn’t exist or resonate with them. Like at all.

I heard you went to Julliard?

No, actually—

Great. You must love music. What do you think of this album?

It’s lovely.

An endearing aspect of this film lies in how it proves not every advance on women needs to be violent in order for it to be uncomfortable. Additionally, men gaslight women in this movie in every way the act can be done. Even when it’s disguised as kindness or understanding, the truth remains that these women aren’t ever really believed.

The way misogyny acts as a force in this film is so well executed. Whenever misogyny is at work (even when it comes from other women) the world moves along quickly and inconsiderately as to not allow Sheryl the time to question or revolt the systems in place, almost programming her into constant submission. But whenever Sheryl leans into her strengths such as her intelligence, her individuality, her charm and her ability to think for herself, it comes in scenes that are crafted with a slower, peaceful, more natural pace. It allows her the time to think, to reach for her autonomy and take it. This feels intentional.

Whereas women are constantly compliant and amenable, particularly in this era, Sheryl makes the decision to be something more. It isn’t until halfway through the show that she carves her own path and stops doing what everyone tells her to. Even when in the makeup chair, she’s a people pleaser—saying yes to whatever opinion is thrown in her direction. But Kendrick plays these scenes in a way where it seems she doesn’t even have the ability to consider what she might want. Like that part of her brain doesn’t exist. It’s utterly devastating to see; it toys with this idea that women live as pawns constantly influenced by the will of men, even in their absence. What hairstyle will they like best? What makeup will make her the most attractive to her suitors? How can she present herself in order to liken her chances of winning the love and acceptance of a man? But not for a moment does the thought of what she wants cross her mind. Because she doesn’t have the ability to think in this way. It’s been bled out of her, slowly, every day by every man. And it’s hard to watch as Kendrick sheds such an unapologetic light on it through her performance. But it’s such an important thing to say.

Don’t sound so smart. You’ll intimidate the men. You know how boys are.

Sheryl is constantly forced to douse her light so as to not outshine the bachelors on The Dating Game. Because even though she is the woman of the hour, it’s only an hour. Like the nod to Einstein’s theory of relativity, it doesn’t matter whether she’s the subject of a man’s attention for a minute or sixty. Her time in the spotlight will end and the men will laugh and reveal that she’d never been in charge at all. She’d never had the power. She’d just been a form of entertainment. A plaything. A dressier form of prey.

What are girls for?

Woman of the Hour isn’t a cozy watch. If anything, it’s one of the most tragically realistic films of the year. It sheds a light on the suffrage of women and it doesn’t shy away from the darkness reaching in from the corners. Kendrick makes a lot of compelling visual choices during scenes depicting violence, never showing too much but always showing enough. The hands holding them down. The pants wrapped around their ankles. The grunts and blows heard off screen.

Certainly the most tasteful yet disturbing choice from Kendrick comes from the way she includes shots in each of these scenes that are poised from an outside perspective, painting the audience as onlookers. Bystanders to the violence. It’s difficult to watch, yet not in a way that makes us like we’re part of the violence. But in a way that places us just far enough that our brains recognize we ourselves are not in danger, but we bear witness to the women who are. She proposes the idea that it’s our responsibility to step in, to say something, to save them before things can get worse. And in doing so, dares to question why we haven’t all this time.

Which one of you will hurt me?

Nicolette Robinson plays Laura, a young woman who embodies the idea that trauma travels from its victim to those in their orbit. That the actions of a monster can linger beyond the death their strangling hands invoke. Laura did what many of us have always done. She’d been by her best friend, happy to see her encounter a charming stranger at a party and left her with a sportive warning to be careful. How many of us have done the same? Been happy that our friend had found a man with a charming smile, a joyous aura, an eagerness to please. And yet he turned out to be the one who snuffed out her light. Laura was possibly the most interesting character in the story, as hers is a tale most women know best. Living with the consequences of a world that caters to men, their needs, their desires and their temerity.

This is a marvelous, emotional and triumphant debut from Kendrick with insightful storytelling by McDonald. Featuring a chilling performance from Daniel Zovatto as Rodney Alcala, this is a film that will stay with you—as it should.

One of the better straight-to-streaming releases we’ve gotten in recent years.

Watch the trailer for Woman Of The Hour below

VVS Films releases Woman Of The Hour exclusively In theatres in Canada on Friday, October 11, 2024

[Review by guest blogger Jurgen Sosa]