Woman of the Hour: The horrifying true story behind the Netflix movie

Woman of the Hour is a haunting reminder of how dangerous the world is for women

The Netflix hit is set in 1970s Los Angeles, as a wave of murders makes headlines, a young woman aspiring to become an actress and a serial killer cross paths during an episode of a dating show.

The Anna Kendrick movie is a haunting smack of reality for women. It reminds us of just how dangerous the world is when we ignore victims and fail to listen to women.

Reading into the story of Rodney Acala is even more frightening.

The film is based on serial killer Rodney Alcala whose true number of victims may be as high as 130.

Alcala appeared on The Dating Game in the 1970s but viewers had no idea of the heinous crimes he committed as he grinned at the camera.

Acala was conclusively linked to eight murders, but he has been described as "one of the most prolific serial killers" of the 1970s.

Orange County Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy told People:

"We fear he is one of the most prolific serial killers on the West Coast in the 1970s, up there with Ted Bundy.

"He is a predatory monster, and when you see all these young women in positions of vulnerability with him, it makes you fear what happened to them."

Alcala "hunted" his victims and compiled horrifying photograph collections of his victims in sexually explicit poses.

He was eventually arrested and charged, but investigators believe the crimes he was convicted of were the tip of the iceberg.

The true story is much more haunting and the real victim number is something we'll likely never know.

Alcala died from unspecified natural causes in prison in 2021.

Referring to Alcala as a monster feels inadequate.

Prosecutors said he "toyed" with his victims. Alcala would strangle them until they fell unconscious and would then wait for them to wake up before killing them. Investigators said the "killing machine" would repeat the harrowing process several times before the victims were killed.

Alcala was found guilty of the murders of eight women and girls including 12-year-old child Robin Samsoe. She was on her way to ballet class when the killer kidnapped her.

He committed his first crime in 1968 when he attacked teenage girl Morgan Rowan. She was luckily rescued by her friends.

Just a month later, he attacked eight-year-old Tali Shapiro.

Shapiro was saved by a passerby but the young girl was left in a coma for 32 days. Alcala was later charged with child molestation and the beating of Tali Shapiro. Alcala served a mere 34 months in prison and continued on his crime spree before his 1979 arrest.

Why was a man on the FBI’s Most Wanted list allowed to walk free? Why did nobody listen to the women who came forward?

How did it take so long for police to realise he was committing haunting crimes?

Anne Kendrick perfectly highlighted how dangerous the world is for women when men like Rodney Alcala walk amongst us.

Woman of the Hour (dir. Anna Kendrick) pic.twitter.com/9x056qM32Q

— Netflix (@netflix) October 20, 2024

The feeling of being followed when you're alone at night sits in your chest for the entirety of Woman of the Hour.

Speaking to Tudum, director Anna Kendrick said putting women at the centre of this story was vital.

"I really like the complicated journey of a woman who is shrinking herself and being very pleasing and then manages to rebel and take back some power. I love the fact that it isn't as simple as, 'Oh, she asserts herself and everything works out great'. Because this is the bargain we're making every day: how much do I live authentically, and how much danger does that actually put me in?"

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