Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, True Crime
Britt Jones
Netflix’s latest true crime film has shook a lot of viewers to their core - and it also has some making the same shocking realisation.
Woman of the Hour focuses on the crimes of serial killer Rodney Alcala, who was later known as the ‘Dating Game Killer’, after he appeared on a TV dating show during his killing spree.
It was back in 1978 that Alcala became a contestant on The Dating Game, and was one of three bachelors lined up as a potential pick for single lady Cheryl Bradshaw.
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Similar to the UK’s Blind Date, Bradshaw was tasked to ask a series of questions to a trio of men, but there was a screen between seated Bradshaw and the men, making it that only the studio audience and viewers at home were able to see what they looked like.
After asking her questions, the men would answer and Bradshaw would go on to pick her favourite man and they would go out on a magical date - with Bradshaw eventually choosing Alcala from the mix.
Netflix's adaptation of the events stars Anna Kendrick, who also directed it in her directorial debut, and fans were left appalled by the events that unfolded.
Prior to his appearance on the dating show, Alcala, who passed away in 2021, had already raped and assaulted multiple people, as well as having committed a few murders.
In 1971, he was also arrested and convicted on child molestation, serving nearly three years in prison.
In 1979, he was arrested and sentenced to death for the murder of a 12-year-old girl- with his sentence later being overturned and reinstated twice in 1986 and 2001, according to the BBC.
While there are only eight confirmed murders linked to Alcala, it is estimated by authorities that the number of his victims could be more than 100.
However, viewers took to X (formerly Twitter) to talk about how frustrated they felt at seeing how Alcala got away with his crimes due to the 'incompetency of the police' at the time.
One person wrote: "I've never seen the experience of a woman portrayed as accurately as the woman who screamed "do your f*cking job" at the police in "Woman of the Hour." Felt that in my guts. Best movie I've seen all year."
Meanwhile, someone else said: "Once again, the American justice system is useless and doesn’t give a f*ck about women.
"This man was reported for a whole decade, had a whole survivor escape and get him arrested and they STILL set him back free on the streets."
Another fan wrote: "Well worth checking out Woman of the Hour on Netflix. Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut is riveting and chilling, its true-crime tale of a serial killer who appeared on a TV dating show rooted in everyday societal misogyny."
Luckily, the real Cheryl Bradshaw declined to go on a date with Alcala as she felt deeply unsettled by him, telling The Sydney Telegraph in 2012 that she 'didn't want to see him again'.