In Anna Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour, a chilling, based-on-a-true-story drama about when a 1970s serial killer appeared on an episode of The Dating Game, one of the most telling images isn’t a grisly murder scene (though there are those). It’s Pete Holmes’ face.
Kendrick, making her directorial debut, stars as an aspiring actor named Cheryl Bradshaw who ultimately winds up a contestant on that particular Dating Game episode. Early in the film, she’s venting about her audition frustrations with a neighbor (Holmes) over drinks. After he makes an awkward pass, she recoils and he sits heavily, staring forward in disappointment.