(Review written by Becca Sandergaard and Treena Christine)
Becca’s Review
There seems to be a popular trend at this year’s TIFF, that being actor turned director movies. Anna Kendrick is one of those people and many didn’t expect her film to make waves. After seeing some of these films and hearing things from others, I can confirm that Woman Of The Hour is the best actor turned filmmaker movie at TIFF this year. Anna Kendrick decided to make a serial killer film and no one is truly ready for how hard it goes.
Woman Of The Hour does a fantastic job of walking the line between being disturbing and exploitative. The primary element of that success is probably that Anna is directing a film about a killer who targeted women. When men make these stories, they tend to sometimes come off as exploitative and sometimes even disgusting. Anna gives you enough to make you feel uneasy and disturbed, but never crosses the line into unnecessary exploitation.
The performances of the film are also excellent, especially a (excuse the pun) killer performance from Daniel Zovatto as Rodney Alcala. Anytime he showed up in the film during my press screening, there were groans and gasps. He chewed up every moment and left me scared by the end. I could see Netflix shifting gears and trying to promote the performance for awards season because it’s that good.
The film also does something that many try and fail and some even decide not to attempt in this type of story, that being humanizing the killer. Anna did a fantastic job giving a level of humanity to Rodney where you felt bad for him while also being scared and angry about what he did. The film shows him as a human who has some huge psychological problems, but never tries to validate him or give him a pass for his actions.
The pacing helped the film as well because it’s broken up in a way that helps the story flow and gives you information as you go along. The cinematography is another standout element of this film. Some of the shots have a deeper purpose and are so great to look at.
If I don’t count the Midnight Madness selections, this is the best film that I saw at TIFF this year. The film just got acquired by Netflix. I hope they do this film justice because it’s truly something special.
Becca's Rating
Treena’s Review
Woman of the Hour brought tension and fear throughout every second of the movie
first scene began to play. Anna Kendrick's directoral debut brought a truly terrifying Story in such a phenomenally executed film.
I think that Anna Kendrick in the directors chair is something that needs to be a common occurrence now. She understood the assignment and executed it so well, I was blown away The film was beautifully shot, with pacing that kept you hooked into the story with an iron grip.
The other thing that worked to make this
film a masterpiece was Daniel Zovatto's incredibly chilling performance as Rodney Alcala. He was truly terrifying in every scene he was in. Even when his character was being charming and smart, the energy that came through the performance was something from a horror movie. Daniel and Anna Kendrick working together was a power move that helped to propel this film further into thematic success.
This has easily been one of my favourite films of TIFF. There was really just something about it that kept me along for the ride the entire runtime. If Anna Kendrick decides to make another crime film (or an unintentional horror flick), I will be there to fully support it every step of the way.
Treena's Rating
