Meet the woman who won a date with a serial killer and lived to tell the tale

Usually associated with playing bubbly characters in romantic comedies and feel-good films, Anna Kendrick is set to make her directorial debut with Woman of the Hour.

The film is scheduled to release on Netflix on October 18, 2024, and is based on the life of serial killer Rodney Alcala. The movie traces the events of the serial killer appearing on the reality TV show The Dating Game as a bachelor while continuing his murder spree. He won the competition, winning a date with the episode’s bachelorette, Cheryl Bradshaw.

Bradshaw was a contestant on the show in 1978, a drama teacher by profession at the time. She was charmed by Alcala’s provoking retorts on the show, choosing him as her partner amongst a small group of contestants. Alcala was introduced as a photographer and recreational skydiver, having won over talent coordinator Ellen Metzger with his good looks.

While Bradshaw initially elected Alcala as the winner, she later felt “creeped” out after meeting him in person and refused to go on a date with him. Alcala asked her out for a tennis lesson date, and little did the drama teacher know that she had saved her own life by turning him down. Years later, it was revealed that Alcala didn’t take the rejection well, and mentioned, “She played me; she played hard to get.”

Not much is known about Bradshaw’s life apart from her appearance on the show and the subsequent spurning of the serial killer. Alcala, meanwhile, had already been involved in the deaths of five people, and the crimes hadn’t been connected to him when he appeared on the show. Termed the “Dating Game killer,” Alcala was profiled by criminal profiler Pat Brown, who opined that the rejection on the show could have possibly enticed Alcala into committing the three quick murders he was found guilty of after the show ended.

Described as a period crime thriller, Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023. The movie stars Kendrick as Cheryl Bradshaw and Daniel Zovatto as Rodney Alcala, with Tony Hale, Kathryn Gallagher, and Kelley Jackle appearing in key roles.