‘Woman of the Hour’ proves true crime can be effective — with a feminine touch

The explosion in popularity of true crime entertainment has raised concerns over the genre’s tendency to be controversial and exploitative. However, the well-received and thoughtful Woman of the Hour suggests that true crime can have a positive effect, and perhaps all it needs is a feminine touch.

Recent true crime movies, shows, and documentaries have received criticism for often glorifying the serial killer and needlessly forcing victims to relive their trauma. Monsters: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was accused of romanticizing serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (Evan Peters), resulting in viewers nauseatingly fawning over and declaring themselves in love with the murderer. Meanwhile, the show retraumatized victims who claimed to have been blindsided by it. Similarly, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile romanticized serial killer Ted Bundy, casting Zac Efron in the titular role and deciding to tell his story from the perspective of his girlfriend rather than his victims. Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes also worked hard to paint Bundy as some intriguing, alluring figure shrouded in mystery.

Even if these true crime shows and movies aren’t glorifying the murderer, many still raise the question of what precisely the point is in re-enacting the worst day of victims’ lives as they testified in court or recreating in graphic detail each murder scene. So many true crime projects simply seem to delight in trauma porn and shock value with no real purpose. Hence, it was refreshing to see Woman of the Hour avoid the typical pitfalls of true crime and construct a story worth telling.

Woman of the Hour departs from true crime’s pitfalls

Woman of the Hour marks Anna Kendricks’s directorial debut. The movie is based on the true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala, who appeared on and won an episode of The Dating Game during his murder spree. However, the movie takes an interesting approach to the story. Instead of recounting every grisly murder or making the victims who have passed the lead stars, the film focuses on the women who survived. In particular, it tells the lesser-known story of Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick), the woman who appeared on The Dating Game with Alcala (Daniel Zovatto).

In real life, Bradshaw declined the date with Alcala and went on to live a largely private life. Hence, Woman of the Hour largely invents a story for her, in which she does come face-to-face with Alcala. Meanwhile, the creative liberty leads to one of the movie’s most intense scenes as Bradshaw slowly realizes she’s in danger and is being followed by Alcala. Woman of the Hour shies away from showing the graphic attacks and aftermaths of Alcala’s attacks. Often, it will show Alcala ambushing a victim or use unique camera angles to subtly capture a murder or show a body without reveling in the shock factor. Instead, it focuses on how Alcala made these women feel.

Woman of the Hour brilliantly captures the moment each victim and survivor realizes there’s something dark and sinister about Alcala. It perfectly conveys that foreboding and dreadful moment that likely far too many women are familiar with in real life. Not only that, but it captures the reality of how women react to this danger. Instead of running or screaming for help, Bradshaw tries to give Alcala a fake phone number and lets him down easily. Similarly, a flight attendant politely mentions tasks she needs to do to give a subtle hint that Alcala should leave. In one case, a young runaway is forced to smile at Alcala after an attack, pretending everything is fine and she’ll keep the encounter a “secret.”

Few movies have so accurately captured what it means to be a woman. So many women can relate to that experience of having to walk on eggshells around a man and, sometimes, even coddle and baby a man who has just hurt them because it’s sometimes the only way they know how to survive. Woman of the Hour also cast Alcala perfectly. He is not romanticized or sexualized at all. The movie doesn’t meticulously paint his backstory or childhood or try desperately to humanize him and make audiences feel sympathy for him. While it acknowledges he was good at charm and manipulation and has some photography talents, he’s not overly handsome or attractive. There’s nothing mysterious, alluring, or even particularly monstrous or inhuman about him. In its depiction of Alcala, the movie calls out killers and violent men for what they really are: mediocre, creepy, weird, and self-loathing little men.

Woman of the Hour tells the story people need to hear

Woman of the Hour shines because it doesn’t arbitrarily try to do what most true crime projects do. It doesn’t try to understand or shed new light on serial killers whose actions will never be fully comprehensible. It also doesn’t try to tell the stories of deceased victims who can’t speak for themselves. Instead, it tells the story of how misogyny prevented Alcala’s arrest for decades and led to the loss of innocent lives. It also tells the story of how two women survived only because they had learned how to operate in a misogynistic world. The movie sees the women in the most terrifying and unfathomable situations, yet they are forced to be calm, smart, and even to be kind to their attackers. They do what they have to do to survive, reminding us that this shouldn’t be the reality for women.

There isn’t much to be learned in glorifying killers or retelling their stories over and over again. However, there is much to learn from the stories of those who survived or were failed by corrupt and biased systems. Woman of the Hour presents women with an accurate depiction of manipulative, violent men and the signs of danger they should be aware of, and raises awareness for what it’s like to be a woman caught in a situation in which they feel powerless. Most importantly, its message revolves around pushing law enforcement and society to protect and believe in women. Perhaps it takes a woman to truly understand how to depict male serial killers correctly and to highlight the stories of survivors and victims over the needless shock factor or romanticization of killers.