Anna Kendrick’s first feature film “Woman of the Hour”, which was released on Netflix on last Friday, chillingly examines sexism via an unbelievable story associated with one real-life serial killer in US during the late 1970s. Yes, as shown from the film, this horrible dude did appear in a TV game show, and it is often disturbing to observe how he managed to get away with his numerous killings during that time (Some estimated that he killed around 130 people at most, though he was convicted for total seven murders on the record).

That serial killer in question is Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), who incidentally died in prison a few years ago. The opening scene shows how Alcala is preying on a woman who will be his latest victim with his camera, and this dry but undeniably chilling moment comes to us a cross between “Zodiac” (2007) and “Peeping Tom” (1960). As Alcala keeps watching her and throwing a few personal questions to her, the woman gradually uneasier, and then, to our horror, she belatedly comes to realize what is going to happen to her.

The movie soon shifts its focus to Cheryl Bradshaw (Anna Kendrick), a plucky young actress looking for any possible big break for her career in Hollywood. After having another disappointment from her latest audition, Bradshaw gets consoled a bit by a male friend/neighbor who is also an actor, but their following drinking night only reminds her that he is no better than those two guys who callously disregarded her at that audition.

At least, her agent gets her a little job which may lead her to more auditions in the future. She is going to appear as a contestant in the latest episode a popular local TV game show called “The Dating Game”, and all Bradshaw will have to do on that show is just simply following whatever she is instructed to do in front of the camera and the audiences. When she subsequently comes to the set, everyone on the set including the host is already ready to do the show, and she is told that everything will be okay as long as she goes along well with others on the set.

Of course, as a young pretty woman who is simply regarded on the set as an object to be won by three hidden male participants, Bradshaw soon faces another moment of misogyny. For example, she is instructed to ask banal questions which demean her in one way or another, and the host, who is your average egoistic male prick, frequently ridicules and insults her just for drawing more laughs from his audiences. In case of the hidden male participants, the first two guys are pretty pathetic in each own way, while the third dude seems a bit better than these two other guys.

However, this third dude is Alcala, so the mood naturally becomes suspenseful for us step by step. On the surface, everything looks bright and cheery around Bradshaw, but the score by Dan Romer and Mike Tuccillo subtly dials the level of uneasiness around the screen, and we come to fear more for Bradshaw as it is more apparent to us that Alcala considers her as another victim to lure and then kill.

Meanwhile, the movie occasionally flashes back or forward for showing more of Alcala’s atrocious crimes – and how he often managed to avoid police investigation mainly due to sexism. While he seems fairly likable in his plain appearance, women always sense some creepy vibe around him, and he even gladly shows the photographs of his victims to his co-workers. Many of his colleagues, who are incidentally male, are not so serious about that at all, and neither does a detective who comes to his workplace for interviewing him a bit. As a matter of fact, Alcala happens to be recognized by one woman in the audience at one point, but, not so surprisingly, nobody listens to her words at all – not even her boyfriend.

The screenplay by Ian McDonald, who participated in the production along with Kendrick as a co-executive producer, gets a bit more tense as Alcala approaches closer to Bradshaw later in the story. While getting to know him a bit more, Bradshaw becomes more unnerved, but she cannot easily say no to him, even when she comes to sense more that something is not so right about him.

Never hurrying the story and characters at all, the movie skillfully accumulates tension below the surface under Kendrick’s competent direction. While the movie is influenced by “Zodiac” to some degree, it is clear that she did her homework well before making the film, and her result distinguishes itself as bringing substantial female perspective to the story materials besides wisely avoiding gratuitous sensationalism.

While Kendrick holds the center well with another strong performance to watch, she also draws fine performances from her several main cast members. While Daniel Zovatto is subtly creepy as required, Nicolette Robinson and Autumn Best are well-cast in their respective supporting parts, and the special mention goes to Tony Hale, who ably embodies the smug sexism of his smarmy host character.

On the whole, “The Woman of the Hour” is one of more satisfying movies from Netflix during this year, and Kendrick did a commendable job of showing another side of her considerable talent here in this film. It is surely a solid beginning for her directing career, and I think I can have some expectation on whatever she will make next.