If you’ve spent any time on Netflix recently, you’ve probably seen Anna Kendrick’s face staring back at you from the thumbnail of Woman of the Hour. It looks like a quirky 1970s period piece at first. Maybe a comedy about the weird world of vintage game shows?
Nope. Not even close.
The movie tells the story of Cheryl Bradshaw, an aspiring actress who went on The Dating Game in 1978 and accidentally picked a serial killer as her "dream date." That killer was Rodney Alcala. Honestly, the real history is so much darker than what made it into the script. While the film captures the "creepy" factor perfectly, the sheer level of institutional failure that allowed Alcala to walk onto a television set while in the middle of a murder spree is staggering.
The Dating Game Nightmare: What Really Happened
In the Netflix movie Woman of the Hour, Kendrick plays "Sheryl," a woman fed up with the casual sexism of 1970s Hollywood. She ends up on the show because her agent thinks it’ll be "good exposure."
Here is the thing: the real Cheryl Bradshaw wasn't just some character in a thriller. She was a real person facing a literal monster behind a partition.
During the actual 1978 taping, Alcala was Bachelor Number One. The movie swaps things around a bit for dramatic effect, but the vibe remains the same. He was charming. He was "the photographer." He was also a man who had already served time for the brutal assault of an eight-year-old girl and was a registered sex offender.
Wait, how did he get on TV? Basically, the background checks in the 70s were non-existent. The show’s producers later admitted they had "weird vibes" about him. Executive producer Mike Metzger famously said Alcala had a "mystique" that made him uncomfortable. Yet, they put him on anyway because he seemed like a "fun" character for the audience.
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In the film, Kendrick’s character asks sharp, intelligent questions that deviate from the vapid script she’s given. In real life, the exchange was just as bizarre. When asked what he was "called," Alcala replied, "I'm called the banana and I look good."
He won. Cheryl picked him.
The Narrowest Escape
The most terrifying part of the Woman of the Hour story is how close it came to a tragedy. In the movie, there’s a tense scene in a parking lot. In reality, Cheryl Bradshaw’s intuition saved her life before they even got to the date.
Shortly after the cameras stopped rolling, Cheryl realized something was fundamentally wrong. She didn't feel safe. She didn't wait for him to show his "true colors" in a dark alley. She called the contestant coordinator, Ellen Metzger, and told her, "I can't go out with this guy. There's weird vibes coming off of him. He's very strange."
The date—a trip to Magic Mountain and tennis lessons—never happened.
Rodney Alcala: The "Dating Game Killer"
Daniel Zovatto plays Alcala in the film with a sort of simmering, quiet menace. But the real Alcala was a different kind of terrifying. He was a chameleon.
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He had an IQ of 135. He had studied film at NYU under Roman Polanski. He was a talented photographer who used his camera as a tool to lure women into "modeling" sessions. When police eventually raided his storage locker in 1979, they found thousands of photos of women and children.
Many of those people have never been identified.
- Confirmed victims: He was eventually convicted of seven murders.
- The true toll: Authorities estimate he may have killed upwards of 130 people across the U.S.
- The Signature: He would often strangle his victims until they lost consciousness, wait for them to wake up, and then do it again. It was a sadistic game of power.
The movie Woman of the Hour does a great job of showing how he operated in plain sight. He worked as a typesetter for the Los Angeles Times. He was a guy you’d pass on the street and think nothing of. That’s the true horror.
Fact vs. Fiction: What the Movie Changed
Anna Kendrick made some specific choices as a director. She didn't want to make another "slasher" flick. She wanted to talk about the culture that let Alcala exist.
The Runaway Scene
The film features a harrowing subplot with a runaway named Amy (played by Autumn Best). This character is largely based on Monique Hoyt, a 15-year-old who Alcala picked up in 1979. In real life, Monique managed to escape by convincing Alcala she liked him and wanted to stay with him, then bolting when he went to use a gas station restroom. It was her bravery—and the fact that her mother’s earrings were found in Alcala’s locker—that finally brought him down.
The "Audience Member" Warning
There is a character in the movie who recognizes Rodney from a past crime and tries to warn the producers. While this makes for great tension, it's one of the parts that was fictionalized to represent the many times people did try to warn authorities about Alcala, only to be ignored.
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Cheryl’s Career
The film portrays her as a struggling actress. While she was a drama teacher in real life, the "struggling actress" angle allowed Kendrick to explore the way women were treated in the industry back then—basically as props.
Why We Are Still Talking About This
Watching Woman of the Hour is a frustrating experience. You want to scream at the screen. You want the police to listen to the survivors. You want the game show producers to just look at the guy for more than five seconds.
But the movie isn't just about a serial killer. It's about the "ghastly" silence of the people who could have stopped him. Alcala didn't just "slip through the cracks." The cracks were big enough to drive a truck through.
Rodney Alcala died in prison in 2021 at the age of 77. He never faced the death penalty because of endless appeals and technicalities. Cheryl Bradshaw, the woman who followed her gut, moved away from California and lived a quiet life, passing away recently before the movie was released.
How to Stay Safe and Trust Your Instincts
If there is one thing to take away from Woman of the Hour, it’s the power of that "gut feeling." We often prioritize being "polite" over being safe. Cheryl Bradshaw didn't want to be "rude" to the man she just picked on national TV, but she chose her life over social etiquette.
- Listen to the "Uh-Oh" Feeling: That physical sensation of unease is your subconscious processing red flags your conscious mind hasn't named yet.
- Don't Fret Over Politeness: If a situation feels wrong, leave. You don't owe anyone an explanation for your safety.
- Verify When Possible: In the age of the internet, we have tools the producers in 1978 didn't. Use them.
- Support Victims: The Alcala case was prolonged because people didn't believe "runaways" or "flighty" women.
Netflix’s Woman of the Hour is a reminder that the most dangerous monsters don't look like monsters. They look like Bachelor Number One.
Next Steps for True Crime Fans:
If you want to dig deeper into the actual evidence, look up the "Alcala Photos" released by the Huntington Beach Police Department. They are still trying to identify women in those pictures to this day. You can also watch the 20/20 special "The Dating Game Killer" for the real-life interviews with the producers who lived through this.