Social media users were both impressed and frightened after streaming a highly anticipated film on Netflix.
The thriller, Woman of the Hour, has been highly praised by terrified fans who know the true story behind the new Anna Kendrick film.
An X user who watched the film early this morning called it ‘really good’ despite it leaving their heart pounding ‘practically the entire time.’
The ‘pitch imperfect‘ movie – in which Kendrick portrays The Dating Game contestant Cheryl Bradshaw, who nearly went on a date with serial killer Rodney Alcala – also had viewers reflect on his crimes.
One X user who felt ‘compelled to speak’ wrote: ‘Women, mothers, young girls please watch this movie and really think about the message.’
Anna Kendrick’s highly anticipated Netflix film Woman of the Hour has left viewers terrified following its debut on the streaming platform
Kendrick portrays The Dating Game contestant Cheryl Bradshaw, who nearly went on a date with serial killer Rodney Alcala
‘As a woman, this movie really captured a lot of legitimate fears and now I’m just upset,’ the X user added.
Another X user admitted to having a ‘hard time‘ watching the first scene and insisted everyone go with their gut before meeting someone.
Several other viewers expressed their excitement to watch the film, and at least five Netflix streamers dubbed this day ‘Woman of the Hour day.’
They also praised Kendrick’s direction, and one person wrote they were ‘excited to see whatever she directs next.’
Pictured: Rodney Alcala as portrayed in ‘Woman of the Hour’
Various X users were terrified of Woman of the Hour, and insisted streamers pay attention to the true story behind the film
Despite the widespread praise, not all streamers loved ‘Woman of the Hour’, with one Reddit user even claiming the ‘boring’ film ‘would’ve done better in 1997.’
‘Any movie that goes straight to Netflix without even getting a token cinema release should be viewed with suspicion,’ a Reddit user wrote in a post this morning.
One person asked if ‘Woman of the Hour’ was a rip-off of ‘Late Night with the Devil’, and another was stunned to see it was ‘not a Lifetime movie.’
Several social media users gave reviews based on their personal preferences, and multiple Reddit commenters were not impressed with Woman of the Hour
Woman of the Hour focuses on Bradshaw (Kendrick) – a California woman attempting to enter the entertainment industry.
Bradshaw’s journey leads her to become a contestant on a 1978 episode of The Dating Game, which featured Alcala.
She asked questions and conversed with all three contestants before choosing to go on a date with Alcala.
What Bradshaw didn’t know was Alcala’s troubling past, and the heinous murders he committed before appearing on the show.
The hopeful bachelorette eventually got a strange vibe from Alcala, and she ultimately refused to to go on a date with him.
Woman of the Hour focuses on The Dating Game contestant Cheryl Bradshaw and the events before and after her game show appearance
Alcala’s crime spree started years before he killed his alleged first murder victim in 1971.
He assaulted several young women while he was in the army in the 1960s, and nearly killed eight-year-old Tali Shapiro in 1968.
Alcala escaped law enforcement, and murdered at least four more women before appearing on The Dating Game.
It took years for law enforcement to finally capture ‘The Dating Game’ killer for good in 1979, but he had already murdered Jill Parenteau and 12-year-old Robin Samsoe before they arrested him.
He was eventually linked to eight murders, but law enforcement believe his victim count is much higher.
Alcala died of natural causes while on death row in 2021, and Bradshaw seemingly lives a quiet life after having moved away from California.
Rodney Alcala appeared on an episode of The Dating Show in 1978, and won a date with its bachelorette, Cheryl Bradshaw (left)
Critics who’ve watched the film since its Netflix debut have praised the film, and its Tomatometer hiked up to 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
It’s also left them a bit frightened, and one reviewer insisted it was ‘entertaining and troubling in turns.’
‘More a social commentary than a pulpy thriller, the film spends longer listening to the women who were long ignored – those who suspected him, those who trusted him, those who reported him – than ogling his crimes,’ a critic wrote for Empire.
‘You don’t need to see evil inflicted on a woman to feel her suffering.’
‘Woman of the Hour will surely send many looking up this stranger-than-fiction story,’ wrote a critic from the Associated Press.
‘But Kendrick’s achievement is in capturing, from a woman’s point of view, just how hard it can be to pick a serial killer out of an all-male line-up.’