Woman of the House is the scariest film I’ve watched from the 2024 movie schedule, and that’s in great part because of its commentary about toxic masculinity and women’s safety. While the story follows a serial killer who goes on The Dating Game, at its core, this movie is about the fear that comes with being a woman and the issues with institutionalized toxic masculinity. Now, the screenwriter is opening up about that and how the film is about “toxic male behavior on a spectrum.”
Ian McDonald, who wrote the script for Anna Kendrick’s fantastic directorial debut Woman of the Hour, spoke to IndieWire at length about how he crafted this film about a real serial killer. He also talked a lot about using the story as a way to drive home a bigger point. He explained that this film isn’t just “about serial killers,” it’s also focused on showing “toxic male behavior on a spectrum.” Elaborating on that point, the writer said:
Rodney represents the most extreme end of that spectrum. Basically, for a very long time, there were a lot of things that we now view as red flags that, back in 1978, were not considered a red flag. Someone could work their way along the spectrum quite far before anyone said, ‘Hey, this might be a problem.'
In the film, we see this spectrum too. While Rodney, the killer, is clearly terrible, and we witness that throughout the various flashbacks of him killing various victims, other men in the film are toxic too.
Take the other Dating Game contestants for example. There’s a scene toward the end of the film where Anna Kendrick’s character asks the players “What are girls for?” The two guys who aren’t the murderer are also awful as they scoff at the question and give answers that allude to their belief that women are objects.
In another scene, we see a male security guard take a woman to an office when she tells him she needs help, because she recognized the killer on the game show. He tells her to wait for his superior, however, that man never comes. In fact, he doesn’t exist.
Both examples are nasty, and while it’s not as bad a murder, obviously, it is on this spectrum of toxic male behavior that McDonald was talking about.
Much like Woman of the Hour’s final moment of a woman gasping after Rodney was arrested, these other points that cause pause. They made me think about the greater social issues that this film was addressing, and just how scary they are.
This commentary mixed with expert filmmaking from Kendrick, a thrilling and meaningful script from McDonald and more are what make Woman of the Hour not just a good true crime movie, but one of the best movies of 2024 that really has something important to say.
To go back and watch the film with this new knowledge, you can stream Woman of the Hour with a Netflix subscription.
