Netflix’s Woman of the Hour just gave us the scariest scene of 2024 

Hidden in a year of terrifying horror movies, Netflix’s Woman of the Hour has proven that to be truly scary, you only need a stranger and a parking lot. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

Woman of the Hour has given Netflix’s true crime world a much-needed boost after mouths were left sour by some comparatively salacious titles. It seemed as though the streamer might have forgotten what so many love about the genre, but with this thriller, that assumption might no longer be 100% true. 

Directed by and starring Anna Kendrick, the new movie takes on Rodney Alcala, aka the Dating Game killer. The serial killer, who was suspected to have murdered up to 130 people, was made notorious after his appearance on a real-life dating show, The Dating Game, in 1978.

He ended up winning and was invited to go on a date with the bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw, but, in a surely life-saving move, Bradshaw refused the offer. Woman of the Hour supposes what would happen if the two did go out, and the result is one of the most bone-chilling scenes I’ve seen on Netflix in forever. 

The date that never happened

In real life, Cheryl called up the contestant coordinator, Ellen Metzger, the day after filming. She told Metzger, “I can’t go out with this guy. There’s weird vibes that are coming off of him,” and added, “I am not comfortable.” 

Thankfully, the date never took place. But in Woman of the Hour, Cheryl (Kendrick) and Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) go out for a drink at a grimy bar around the corner that same night. Obviously, this is hypothetical – from what we know, the two were introduced to each other after the show, and that’s that.

It’s not the only reshuffling of reality in the movie, though it is the biggest stretch. But the inclusion of this imagined scenario has a purpose. And, more importantly, it works.

Netflix

In the scene, as the two sit and drink, Cheryl is somewhat susceptible to Alcala’s easy-going charms at first, flattered by comparisons to Patti Smith and (perhaps falsely) mutual interests. When Alcala compliments her “soul”, Cheryl laughs.

It’s not a mean laugh, but it’s enough for Alcala. His face drops, and he’s thrown by the small but important tease at his profound comment. From that second, everything changes.  

Cheryl continues to talk, and it takes a few moments before you notice that, while she’s been saying more and more, Alcala has barely said anything at all. A far cry from the charismatic guy who she chose as her winner. As Alcala’s intense calmness ramps up, Cheryl starts to feel that something might not be quite right anymore. 

A predator and his prey 

In the background, any signs of music or tinkering from behind the bar have stopped dead. There’s only Cheryl and the man who she’s now suddenly realizing she does not know, and is the only other person in the middle of an empty bar near the empty studio lot. 

The two leave, with Alcala offering to walk her to her car – which is sitting on the other side of the lot, in the dark, with not another soul around. Two horrifying things happen here: the first being that Cheryl gives him a fake number, which he then asks her to repeat from memory. When she can’t answer, he supposes that their date won’t be happening.

Netflix

Exposed but firm, she tells him that she won’t be going anywhere with him. Then, as she walks away, Alcala mumbles to himself in an almost inaudible tone: “…You’re gonna get your f**king head bashed in.”

By the time Cheryl walks away and quickly tries to keep ahead of Alcala, who calmly follows her shaky, breathless speed, the realization comes: you’re now watching a horror movie. 

Woman of the Hour is a masterclass in “the moment”

Aside from being an examination of Alcala and a selection of his murders, Woman of the Hour is also a study in how a moment can shift from comfort to discomfort. Her encounter with Alcala isn’t Cheryl’s only attack of conversational whiplash at the hands of a man, but it’s easily the worst.

The execution of the scene makes this the strongest moment in the entire film, and one wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar in a David Fincher movie. 

The majority of Woman of the Hour is spent under bright TV lights, overcome by applause and laughter from the studio audience. When Cheryl steps out of that world and into Alcala’s, the entire atmosphere shifts and never settles back into safety. 

The fear comes strongest in the quiet. And when everything else is stripped back, and Cheryl suddenly realizes that she doesn’t like where she is or who she’s with, the quiet is overwhelming.

It’s an impressive scene, and Kendrick deserves praise for crafting such a sequence in her directorial debut. It’s the kind of moment that makes you wish you were watching it in a theater, just to hear the moment the pin drops among a tense and frightened crowd. 

But aside from being an achievement, Cheryl’s fictionalized run-in is an important device. Her date doesn’t change the reality of what really happened – which was nothing – but it does allow us to examine Alcala up close outside of his brutal murder scenes. 

In this instance, the “what if” is scarier than the “what was”, because the audience is allowed to experience the full transition from comfort to terror up close, through Cheryl. 

Because of that, we’re given a first-hand encounter of looking evil in the eye through the screen – and that makes Woman of the Hour scarier than any killer clown or satanic worshiper. 

For more, take a look at our list of the best movies of the year. You can also learn about all the new true crime and documentaries this month, and see what the best serial killer documentaries of all time are.