In the horrific annals of serial killers in America, the tragedies are sometimes compounded even further when we learn the monster had been in the grasp of authorities and/or was hiding in plain sight — but avoided prosecution and went on to murder additional victims. Ted Bundy escaped from prison twice, the second time making his way to Florida and murdering at least two women. John Wayne Gacy had a number of encounters with police before he was finally arrested in December of 1978.
Jeffrey Dahmer was allowed to go free after police determined that a 14-year-old boy who was found naked and bleeding on the street was involved in a “domestic squabble” with Dahmer. Within the hour, that boy was dead. Then there’s Rodney Alcala, who in 1978 appeared as a contestant on “The Dating Game” in the midst of a killing spree.
Alcala’s moment in the television spotlight is the foundation for the fictionalized version of events depicted in the dark, unsettling and powerfully effective Netflix original film “Woman of the Hour.” This is one of the best crime thrillers in recent years, with Anna Kendrick demonstrating a strong set of storytelling skills and a keen eye for period-piece visuals in her directorial debut, while also turning in one of her career-best performances as the “bachelorette” who unknowingly chooses Alcala as her “dream date.” Kendrick and screenwriter Ian McDonald frame “Woman of the Hour” as two different kinds of movies that eventually in.