Woman of the Hour: release date, trailer, cast and everything we know about the Anna Kendrick thriller

Anna Kendrick is one of the more popular actresses in Hollywood right now, so her starring in a new movie is attention-grabbing enough. But throw in that she is making her directorial debut with a movie based on the true story of a serial killer that a woman met on a dating show, and there's a lot to get excited about with the new movie Woman of the Hour .

Woman of the Hour actually first screened all the way back at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, where it got a lot of strong buzz from critics. But the long wait for general audiences to see it is coming to an end.

Read on for all the key information regarding Woman of the Hour .

Woman of the Hour release date

Netflix plans to debut Woman of the Hour exclusively on the streaming service on Friday, October 18.

There doesn't appear to be any plans to release the movie in movie theaters in the US, but if that changes we'll share that information here.

In order to watch Woman of the Hour when it comes out, you must have a Netflix subscription .

Woman of the Hour cast

Kendrick lends her talent in front of and behind the camera in Woman of the Hour , as she plays the main character of Sheryl Bradshaw. Kendrick is an Oscar-nominated actress ( Up in the Air ) best known for starring in the Pitch Perfect movies and the animated Trolls franchise.

Playing the serial killer stalking Sheryl is Daniel Zovatto, who has previously appeared in critically-acclaimed movies It Follows and Lady Bird .

The rest of the cast includes Tony Hale ( Veep ), Nicolette Robinson ( The Affair ), Autumn Best ( 4400 ), Kathryn Gallagher ( Gossip Girl ) and Kelley Jakle ( Pitch Perfect ).

Woman of the Hour plot

The script for Woman of the Hour was written by Ian McDonald. Here is the official synopsis for this based on a true story:

"The stranger-than-fiction story of an aspiring actress in 1970s Los Angeles and a serial killer in the midst of a years-long murder spree, whose lives intersect when they're cast on an episode of The Dating Game ."

Woman of the Hour trailer

Check out the incredibly creepy trailer for Woman of the Hour right here:

Woman of the Hour reviews

Following its premiere at TIFF back in 2023, critics gave their first impressions of the movie: they seemed to like it a good bit. As of September 17, Woman of the Hour has a 90% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes . Some of the quotes featured in the trailer for the movie describe it as "poignant and unsettling" (Bloody Disgusting) and "a tremendous directorial debut" (ScreenRant).

Anna Kendrick directing Woman of the Hour

Though Kendrick has produced a number of movies and TV shows that she has appeared in, Woman of the Hour is the first time that she is serving as a director on any project.

She's not the only big-name actress who is making their directing debut with a 2024 movie. Zoë Kravitz released her first directed movie, Blink Twice , in August 2024.