The task of adapting a tragic true crime story into a feature film is no small feat, especially for a directorial debut. It takes strong empathic reverence to create a compelling movie while still honouring the victims of violent crime. Actress and all-around endearing person Anna Kendrick embarked on a bold career transition by selecting Woman of the Hour as her inaugural project behind the camera.

The story follows the path of serial killer Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) who inflicted terror upon numerous women during the late 1970s. Running parallel to his storyline is Cheryl Bradshaw’s (Anna Kendrick) struggle as she tries to find her big break in Hollywood. Eventually, she crosses paths, and narrowly avoids, Alcala when they are both contestants on The Dating Game. Cheryl uses her time on national television to show off her charismatic wit and much to her surprise, Rodney (Contestant #3) is able to match her energy. A large portion of the film is spent capturing the production of Cheryl’s episode of The Dating Game, when it’s almost entirely irrelevant to the bigger picture of the true story.

Despite the chance encounter of the two main characters, the film dedicates a majority of the runtime to this subplot, missing out on going deeper into the gripping story of Alcala’s murderous spree, the abject failure of law enforcement, and the runaway hostage that gets him caught. While Kendrick’s presence on-screen was indeed delightful, as she infused Cheryl with her trademark down-to-earth humour, her character’s arc was inconsequential to the story.  As the director, however, Kendrick expertly builds palpable tension in between the disturbing sequences where Alcala’s victims meet their unjust fate. She approached the death scenes with skilled restraint, steering clear of gratuitous violence and eliciting true disgust towards the perpetrator.

Kendrick chose to tell the story in a non-linear timeline, which proved more disorienting than effective. Even title cards indicating the current year couldn’t simplify the random and unprompted time jumps. Over the five-year period depicted in the film, Alcala’s character never changed his appearance or evolved with his tactics, making it difficult to pinpoint where we are in his reign of terror. Showing the events in chronological order would have made for a more compelling and cohesive experience. The actor portraying the killer, Daniel Zavatto, pushed his creepiness factor to such an extreme that it became counterproductive. The real Alcala was able to hide in plain sight for years and easily charm women into his traps. Zavatto’s performance undermined the belief that women and the general public could readily detect an overtly predatory member of society.

Despite the small faults in Woman of the Hour, there is a lot to be said about Kendrick’s directing. The way she was able to believably craft the 1970s aesthetic, respectfully portray murder victims, and leave a lasting impact on the viewer is extremely rare for a first-time director. She brought an original and stylistic approach to a well-known and sensitive story. Even though the movie only slightly missed the mark of excellence, there’s no doubt that Kendricks’s next project will be one to watch.

_{Woman of the Hour was recently purchased by Netflix after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.}