Stumbled upon this movie streaming on Netflix knowing zero about it other than it starred Anna Kendrick. I expected it to be a rom com but turns out I was wrong, it is a pretty taut thriller about a real life serial killer. Kendrick directed the film and does a great job in her first go at it. Definitely one of the better things streaming right now.

Been meaning to check it out.
Just listened to a long podcast about that guy.
Looking forward to watching this

My post is going to have spoilers regarding the movie and real-life events.

I've had some slight interest in Robert Alcala in the past, so I know his story, and have seen the clips of the Dating Game show numerous times. I was put off by the fact that they deviated so significantly from the footage that is still available online. It got eye roll inducing when Kendrick's character decides that she is going to take over the show with her aggressive line of questioning (which never actually happened). This "empowered" woman then still goes on a date with the creep (which doesn't actually happen in reality as the real life woman refused to go on a date because she found him creepy).

I honestly do love a good story about strong women, but I hate it when they shoehorn it into stories where it's not necessary. The portion about the kidnapped woman was way more engrossing, and should have been the main focus, rather than something that was essentially a tiny anecdote in his otherwise depraved life.

I did think that Kendrick and the writers did a good job of highlighting the daily struggles women go through to appease men, but the "strong woman" moment of the movie felt so corny and out of place. I also felt that Anna Kendrick did a terrible job of attempting look and act like she was from the 70s. Every scene she was in felt anachronistic and like she was just playing Anna Kendrick. Also, I hated the shoehorned in subplot of the audience member recognizing him (which again didn't happen), and was really only probably felt to be necessary because they dedicated the majority of the screen time to the least interesting thing about this case.

Overall I give it a 6.1/10. It's entertaining but forgettable, and a little silly. Also, don't go in expecting anything close an accurate story, which was definitely my fault.

Pretty sure the character that recognized him on the show was an amalgam character. She represents all of the women that went to authorities about the guy that either werent believed or cops bungled the investigation.

So slow and boring we turned it off.

You nailed it. I didn't know any of the facts and stuff you mentioned, but my impression of the film was the same. Spent most of the film playing on my phone. Solid meh from me.

thought about watching that this weekend, looks like I dodged a boring bullet.

Ending up watching the Zombie Movie "Cargo" instead....it was decent.

Dr. Not Yet Dr. Ag said:

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My post is going to have spoilers regarding the movie and real-life events.

I've had some slight interest in Robert Alcala in the past, so I know his story, and have seen the clips of the Dating Game show numerous times. I was put off by the fact that they deviated so significantly from the footage that is still available online. It got eye roll inducing when Kendrick's character decides that she is going to take over the show with her aggressive line of questioning (which never actually happened). This "empowered" woman then still goes on a date with the creep (which doesn't actually happen in reality as the real life woman refused to go on a date because she found him creepy).

I honestly do love a good story about strong women, but I hate it when they shoehorn it into stories where it's not necessary. The portion about the kidnapped woman was way more engrossing, and should have been the main focus, rather than something that was essentially a tiny anecdote in his otherwise depraved life.

I did think that Kendrick and the writers did a good job of highlighting the daily struggles women go through to appease men, but the "strong woman" moment of the movie felt so corny and out of place. I also felt that Anna Kendrick did a terrible job of attempting look and act like she was from the 70s. Every scene she was in felt anachronistic and like she was just playing Anna Kendrick. Also, I hated the shoehorned in subplot of the audience member recognizing him (which again didn't happen), and was really only probably felt to be necessary because they dedicated the majority of the screen time to the least interesting thing about this case.

Overall I give it a 6.1/10. It's entertaining but forgettable, and a little silly. Also, don't go in expecting anything close an accurate story, which was definitely my fault.

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Watched it last night. You nailed it.

bonfarr said:

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Pretty sure the character that recognized him on the show was an amalgam character. She represents all of the women that went to authorities about the guy that either werent believed or cops bungled the investigation.

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this is correct. Kendrick stated this in an interview.

Watch this around last week, you said it all.

Dr. Not Yet Dr. Ag said:

---

My post is going to have spoilers regarding the movie and real-life events.

I've had some slight interest in Robert Alcala in the past, so I know his story, and have seen the clips of the Dating Game show numerous times. I was put off by the fact that they deviated so significantly from the footage that is still available online. It got eye roll inducing when Kendrick's character decides that she is going to take over the show with her aggressive line of questioning (which never actually happened). This "empowered" woman then still goes on a date with the creep (which doesn't actually happen in reality as the real life woman refused to go on a date because she found him creepy).

I honestly do love a good story about strong women, but I hate it when they shoehorn it into stories where it's not necessary. The portion about the kidnapped woman was way more engrossing, and should have been the main focus, rather than something that was essentially a tiny anecdote in his otherwise depraved life.

I did think that Kendrick and the writers did a good job of highlighting the daily struggles women go through to appease men, but the "strong woman" moment of the movie felt so corny and out of place. I also felt that Anna Kendrick did a terrible job of attempting look and act like she was from the 70s. Every scene she was in felt anachronistic and like she was just playing Anna Kendrick. Also, I hated the shoehorned in subplot of the audience member recognizing him (which again didn't happen), and was really only probably felt to be necessary because they dedicated the majority of the screen time to the least interesting thing about this case.

Overall I give it a 6.1/10. It's entertaining but forgettable, and a little silly. Also, don't go in expecting anything close an accurate story, which was definitely my fault.

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100% agree. I still enjoyed the movie and they did a great job of showing the terror and helpless those women must have felt, but the real story is the girl that gets him caught and that's the movie I want to see.

Also, it was really weird to me that nothing was ever said about the last girl's hand. There are a lot of situations where the hand maybe doesn't come up, but in this particular situation it really seemed like either her or him would've mentioned it at some point.

This sums up my feelings as well.

I turned this on because my wife once said "I'll watch anything with Anna Kendrick in it" (and she hates scary movies/thrillers where I love them) and i thought it would be interesting because she always seems to be typecasts as "acting like Anna Kendrick" so this would be interesting to see if she could overcome that.. -- this movie changes nothing about that. She's still great, but couldn't quite pull this one off.

I saw a different film than many of you. Genuinely thought it was outstanding. Kendrick did an amazing job as a first time director, creating tension in every scene while also framing the action in imaginiative ways. The actor playing the killer was outstanding. Creepy as hell, but when he wanted to turn it on, his charm made you understand why so many poor women trusted him.

I also found the 70s throwback highly entertaining. The clothes, colors, cars, etc. Totally worth a watch. My wife, who loves Kendrick but is not a horror person, had to look away a few times as she could feel the dread of the victims as their fate rushed towards them.

8.5 out of 10.