The horror story of the dating game. Killer Rodney Alcalá has a depressingly long list of victims, a series of exasperating failures by the police, and a grim, unsatisfying ending. Suffice it to say that it is shocking that his crimes are the main ones. Pitch perfectAnna Kendrick makes her directorial debut. bell lady.
Doing double duty in the film, the comedian brings her talented personality to a lead role and represents the unknown. the dating game The Bachelor questions an undiscovered serial killer, much to the delight of a national audience that has forgotten his brutal killing streak.
Ian MacAllister McDonald's script gives Kendrick plenty of trademark scenes, from a humiliating audition with a pair of comically dull casting directors to a deeply uncomfortable interaction with a sex bug neighbor to a dazzling prospect in the studio spotlight. A popular television game show. But how does Kendrick's humor fit with the brutal story of the dating game killer?
It's not like that.
what a fuss bell lady?
Kendrick's directorial debut premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival amid a wave of other productions from actors and directors, dating back to Taika Waititi's clumsy sports comedy. The next objective is to win., Michael Keaton's fast-paced thriller Knox leavesViggo Mortensen's grim western The dead don't hurt A shaky work by Patricia Arquette gonzo girl, and Chris Pine's black comedy Bellyflop polish man (to name a few!) reviews from early screenings bell lady Word is out that Kendrick's true crime adaptation is a must-see and may be the best of these particular films. Again, that's not saying much given the mixed negative reviews of the aforementioned films.
Some compared it woman of the hour For emerald fennel A promising young woman, A dark comedy thriller, its writer and director won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. However, the similarities between the two films are superficial: both deal with rape culture, involving stories of women being sexually assaulted and/or murdered by men in a patriarchal society, the goal of which is to give them the benefit of the doubt. cost. (Spoiler: women's lives are the price). Both films are directed by women. (only A promising young woman Written by one.) End of list.
Where A promising young woman Offering a stylish and provocatively twisted revenge fantasy, bell lady It presents a shaky version of a true crime story with a strand of showbiz humor. The first film centers its plot on an angry avenging angel who lures his predatory prey through drunkenness or smeared lipstick, visually critiquing real-life victim-blaming tropes. Otherwise, bell lady There is no central heroine, but she is divided among a handful of victims: a teenage runaway (Autumn Best), a traumatized witness (Nicolette Robinson), an overtrusting flight attendant and aspiring actress Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick). ). As the film moves back and forth through Alcalá's terrifying timeline, Cheryl prepares to direct. the dating game Not to look for love, but to get his big break. Could her career ambitions kill her? Candrick seems to ask the movie.
bell lady The two films are clumsily combined.
Cheryl's plot follows her as a struggling actress in Los Angeles, dodging heartbreaking comments from men in power, dodging unwanted kisses, fighting off sexual bullies, using only wit and a smile as a shield. In those scenes, Kendrick seems to feel at home. As an actor, he walked the lighthearted line, but had biting humor. Pitch perfect do in the forest AND A simple option. Seeing his face fighting Tony Hale is very funny the dating game host.
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A terrible cold shows how Alcalá works from the beginning. So, as Cheryl deals with annoying but relatively harmless threats from the men around her, the audience knows what she doesn't: doom is looming. call for it the dating game Kicking is not a coincidence, it is bad luck.
Kendrick is deliberately cast in this familiar role so audiences can understand how even the quirky comedy heroine could fall into the trap of such a deceitful serial killer. Through this thread, Kendrick shows how Alcalá hid in plain sight. However, this part of the film doesn't connect with the other women's stories because the characters are so rarely developed that their scenes replicate something out of Investigation Discovery: a quick, sweet montage before a brutal murder.
To Autumn Best's credit, her screen presence is undeniably fascinating, if barely drawn into her sinister side of the runway. You root for her even though the movie gives you every reason to think Hope is pointless. However, other women depicted in the last hours or minutes of their lives are given even less affectionate characterizations. They all fall into the same aesthetic framework of '70s beauty, with long hair, vaguely bohemian childish vibes, and a tentatively self-possessed attitude. They introduce themselves long enough to be cute, before their smiles are distorted by Alcalá's menacing gaze.
Anna Kendrick stumbles upon a true crime narrative.
Kendrick doesn't have a singular voice when it comes to portraying violence. In zodiac signDavid Fincher staged elaborate carnage scenes to show his audience the chilling nature of the attacks. Most attacks occur off-camera, even if there are minor injuries. bell ladyKendrick participates in scenes of screaming women, hands clenched and legs kicking helplessly. Instead of being bizarre, scenes like this seem straight out of any random horror movie, with shots of screaming victims being dragged out of frame for annihilation. It is a painful scene.
Kendrick's approach reduces these sisters in distress (some of them based on real people, like Cheryl herself) to cautionary tales, supporting these clichéd scenarios that feature sexually attractive and confident young women to show them slaughtered for leaving. bring a stranger into their lives. Don't hit! Don't let strangers into your house! Don't continue the progress towards second place!
As true crime media evolves, fans and viewers push to focus on the victims or the heroes in the search for the killer. To be fair, Kendrick isn't interested in Alcalá's motives or background. Actor Daniel Zovatto gives a less-than-stellar performance as the smiling serial killer, revealing how a little compassion can be a hook. bell lady Alcalá is not a victim of being considered special or intelligent, often brave enough to believe in institutional misogyny, ignoring not only all its warning signs, but also the women who speak out against him. However, the script carefully selects its story to weave a concise and gritty thriller with that very marketable true crime touch. Yet it doesn't tell us anything new: about rape culture, police apathy, or Alcalá and his victims.
Unraveling True Crime: Inside the Ethics of Hollywood's Biggest Crime
Even worse, bell lady A fanciful climax builds the entire plot in a sweaty attempt to reach a satisfying conclusion. Much of this story is stranger than fiction, but it is still true, so viewers can assume the ending is true. However, MacDonald devised a fictional ending that was implausible even within the world he and Kendrick had created. In a film where the guards are repeatedly shown to be helpless and apathetic, showing them triumphantly walking in and sounding sirens to save the day is outrageous. This creation provides a solace that the real story lacks and an ending that feels cheap and insulting.
Far from being a story that makes you think inside A promising young woman, bell lady It plays on preconceptions without complications: all men are bad, from rapists and murderers to incompetent police officers, disappointed lovers and failed couples. Women, on the other hand, are victims, rumors or witnesses.
“What are women for?” Cheryl asks her singles jokingly, and they often ask her for answers. Kendrick's film doesn't answer that question well.
bell lady Streaming on Netflix.
Update: October 14, 2024, 5:01 pm EDT “The Woman of the Hour” was reviewed outside of its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. This article, originally published on September 22, 2023, has been updated for the film's debut on Netflix.
