Why Anna Kendricks’ “Woman of the Hour” reminded me of Zodiac

Anna Kendrick has repeatedly shown herself to be a star on the screen, with numerous successful roles in projects such as Pitcher perfect, A simple favor or her Oscar-nominated performance In the air. But Kendrick may have just as much talent behind the camera as she does in front of it, as her new Netflix film proves Woman of the hourwhich was her feature film debut as a director.

Stream now on Netflix, Woman of the hour has quickly taken over as the most-watched film spot in the US and UK since its global release on October 18th. In addition to acknowledging Kendrick, the film is also a true crime story about a woman who encounters a serial killer when she appears on a hitman’s 1970s TV dating game show, which certainly speaks to Netflix subscribers’ love of the genre of true crime stories. Strong word of mouth doesn’t hurt either, as the film has a 91% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Obviously, like many others, I watched the film over the weekend and my biggest takeaway was the skill Kendrick demonstrated in her very first directorial outing. When I think about it more closely, I can’t help but make a connection to Kendrick’s film and another true crime classic: David Fincher’s Zodiac.

For many, this may be rarefied air. Not only does Fincher have a loyal fan base for almost all of his work, but also Zodiac In particular, the director’s work holds a special place as one of his best films. While I feel Zodiac is probably the stronger of the two, Kendrick’s direction gave me similar feelings as watching Fincher’s film.

Special, Woman of the hour does a phenomenal job of exploiting a character’s fear and increasing the tension in the scenes. Over the course of the film, we see a series of murders committed by Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) over the course of a decade. Each time, there’s just the slightest moment that turns a seemingly harmless encounter between Rodney and these various women into imminent danger.

Since it was already seen in the movie’s teaser trailer, I want to focus on when Sheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick) and Rodney go on their first date after being together on the game show. The conversation seems to be going well as Sheryl and Rodney discuss playwrights Sam Shepard and Edward Albee, but a small awkward moment changes the dynamic and Rodney’s behavior. He doesn’t necessarily say anything that would signal to Sheryl that he’s a dangerous killer, but the silence that ensues between each exchange heightens the tension, and each additional word sets off alarms for both Sheryl and the viewer.

The scene it reminded me of Zodiac was when Jake Gyllenhaal’s Robert Graysmith went alone to the man’s house to follow a lead on a potential Zodiac suspect using a handwriting sample. When Robert finds out that the man he is talking to is the man whose handwriting he suspects, the entire atmosphere of the scene changes from hope of finding a lead to fear of possibly having a murderer to be in the room.

Zodiac Signs: Handwriting (HD CLIP) – YouTube

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This is what came to mind as I watched Woman of the hour. However, Kendrick shared many of her own influences in the film in a video interview with Letterboxd. It refers to the Coen brothers’ No Country for old men (which is also an incredible tension builder, which I can definitely see when I listen to her talk about it), Agnes Varda Le BonheurAlan J. Pakula Cults and Jean-Pierre Melvilles Army of Shadows.

With all of these influences, Kendrick made a very strong directorial debut Woman of the hour This makes me excited to see what she will tackle next.

Woman of the hour is now streaming exclusively on Netflix worldwide. Subscription required.

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