New Looks at Anna Kendrick's Directorial Debut, True Crime 'Woman of the Hour'

The actress Anna Kendrick is set for her directorial debut, marked by the true crime genre film, Woman of the Hour.

The plot tells The true story of serial killer Rodney Alcaláwho was in the middle of a murder spree when he appeared, participated in and won the dating TV show The Dating Game.

In addition to directing the feature, Kendrick stars in it as Cheryl Bradshaw, one of the contestants on the dating show, where she meets Alcalá (played by Daniel Zovatto).

After celebrating its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2023, Woman of the Hour It was acquired by Netflix for distribution in the United States and other international markets, including Mexico and the rest of Latin America.

The marketing campaign continues with new glimpses shared by EW, which also reveals recent statements made by Kendrick, who is nervous about presenting her directorial debut to the world:

“I'm really having an experience like, 'Wow, do you think I've been doing this for 15 years or something?'” she says, fighting back tears. “I think it's like that… I love the movie so much that I want to do it justice. Plus, I guess just having a new job means I feel like I’ve never done this before.”

Kendrick directs the script for Ian MacAllister McDonald (Some Freaks). The script titled at that time Rodney & Sherylwas part of the 2017 Black List, a list that annually compiles the most popular unproduced scripts.

Kendrick tells EW of the Rodney Alcalá storyline:

“I think I was aware of the story, the same way I've found out that about 50 percent of the population is aware of it, which is to say, 'Oh yeah, I've heard about that. ' And really, what we've heard is that one time, there was a very violent and dangerous killer who was on The Dating Game. But once I signed on to direct and started doing some research and making some adjustments, For me, the fact that he appeared on The Dating Game is the least interesting part of the story..”

Instead of focusing the film on Alcalá's involvement in The Dating GameKendrick dice:

“We had to use The Dating Game as a thematic resource to frame the question of how to know who is a confident person and who is not.”

On ending up in the director's chair, Kendrick said:

“I think there was something about the film in general that appealed to me. I knew that while I liked the character, I was much more interested in the movie as a whole. And of course, for the two years I was there thinking, ‘Well, if it was my movie, this is how I would make it. But it’s not, so it’s not my decision. ’ I got really excited about the idea of ​​taking this script that I loved so much and shaping it the way I saw it. And suddenly, I was interviewing casting directors and production designers and feeling more terrified than ever, frankly, of anything.”

Kendrick hopes the film will illustrate why “Most of the time, there is nothing you can do, no matter how smart you are, no matter how careful you are, to protect yourself from someone who wishes to harm you.”

In addition to starring in and directing the film, Kendrick serves as a producer alongside Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, Stephen Crawford, Andrew Deane, and JD Lifshitz.

The rest of the cast is made up of Nicolette Robinson (One Night in Miami, Chicago Med), Tony Hale (Veep), Jedidiah Goodacre (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Kelley Jakle (franchise Pitch Perfect), Max Lloyd-Jones (When Calls the Heart), Geoff Gustafson (Wilderness).

Netflix premieres it October 10, 2024In the Latin American market it will be released in theaters on the same day under the title, The dating game killer.