Woman of the Hour is most compelling when focused around Anna Kendrick, but despite the brisk 95 minute runtime, it often cuts away from her and her storyline to follow other characters, sometimes at different points in time, creating a sense of choppiness that eventually makes the story lack cohesiveness. Her character joins a dating show that features a serial killer, while other segments show the serial killer operating throughout time. Those segments are not told chronologically, and sometimes even they get split up across multiple scenes. This prevents the movie from really having any sort of flow to it. For example, they'll suddenly jump forward in time, then back in time, then forward again to the earlier story. The worst part is that there doesn't seem to be a purpose in splicing up the story like this. Because Anna Kendrick is directing, the female perspective prevents the movie from necessarily feeling exploitative in these scenes, but they don't really seem to be building up anything in terms of themes regarding women being ignored (much better explored in Kendrick's own storyline). I think the end goal was to just showcase how creepy the killer was and how dangerous simple interactions can be for women, but this did not require the strange editing decisions. More importantly, it distracts from the dating show storyline which is the most engaging part of the movie, both in terms of delivering themes as well as just in terms of making me invested in what was happening. Unfortunately, the other scenes distract from this story. However, by the end, this dating show story doesn't actually make that much of a difference, and that's probably why she felt the need to include the rest of the scenes...it isn't a complete story on its own. I respect the noticeable changes in the way the killer and his killings are depicted due to the female perspective, and I liked seeing her tackle some of the more casual misogyny, but I think she was unable to spin it all together into a cohesive whole.

Surprisingly good. I won’t harp on about the lack of positive male role models in this (not a single one) because Kendrick has a valid point to make. It’s very well shot, tense, and has some twists and turns. Well worth a watch.

What could I possibly say about this film that hasnt already been said? Anna Kendrick ACED her directorial debut by depicting the almost universal experience of women when left alone with creepy and/or dangerous men. I was constantly in awe at how she chose to show us the encounters and I loved the choice to focus on the women rather than the killer. It felt like an ode to the victims rather than a study of the perpetrator. I am sick of true crime films that feel more like a sexualizatiom of the killer or a glamorization of the killing itself rather than an honest representation of the tragedy it truly is. Anna does this flawlessly and there were several scenes that captures the horror the victims must have experienced in a way I have never personally witnessed before and am grateful to have experienced. I can see this spanking genuine conversations about the female experience in a way that media usually never successfully accomplishes.

Like falling in love with a woman who opens up about her past: heartbreaking and all too real. Not only did Anna Kendrick recreate the 70s with such accuracy that it felt like being there, she created feelings with so much reality it's difficult to hear her. This based-on-a-true story of how not believing women enabled a monster to rape and murder over a hundred women (many of them children) should be dedicated to men who don't understand "not all men but always a man," or why women choose the bear.

**Viscerally disturbing and brilliantly executed. The subtle terror and quiet rage is palpable in almost every scene. I reveled in the final scenes. Definitely a difficult watch, due to content, but worth every second of it.**