What "Woman of the Hour" is going for isn’t some ultimate period-piece authenticity. It’s trying to deconstruct television, along with the male aggression that can descend into violence, and to show you how they work together.

The actor talks about channeling her own trauma in directorial debut about 1970s serial killer Rodney Alcala, once a contestant on 'The Dating Game.'

Kendrick explained that for that detail she called screenwriter Ian McDonald and "asked him to put that moment [in]", as she found it "so evocative and heartbreaking" to bring about a connection "to the natural world that some of these women had for a lot of reasons".

Anna Kendrick has made a name for herself with her signature sense of humour, from the Pitch Perfect and Twilight franchises to an earnest young graduate in Up in the Air, which earned her an Oscar nomination. She has now taken on the creative challenge of stepping behind the camera, marking her feature directorial debut with Woman of the Hour.

Anna Kendrick's directing debut, Netflix's 'Woman of the Hour,' tells the true story of how serial killer Rodney Alcala won 'The Dating Game' in 1978.

"Woman of the Hour," directed by and starring Anna Kendrick, is based on the true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala competing on a dating show.

How accurate is Netflix's "Women of the Hour"? The true story of Cheryl Bradshaw and Rodney Alcala, the serial killer she chose on "The Dating Game."

The main reason for that is Anna Kendrick, who makes a formidable, clear-eyed directorial debut in addition to playing Bradshaw. Using plenty of her own career experiences, Kendrick presents Bradshaw’s story as a grimly common one of pervasive,