BASED ON THE SHOCKING TRUE STORY OF THE DATING GAME’S DEADLIEST BACHELOR.

In 1978, struggling actress Sheryl Bradshaw (Anna Kendrick) is hired to appear as a contestant on The Dating Game, little dreaming that one of the three bachelors is a serial killer.

Kendrick’s directing debut was based on a bizarre chapter in California’s famous history of serial killers, developing the story of what happened when Rodney Alcala, who was sentenced to death two years later for multiple murders, won a date on TV.

Flashbacks show us how Alcala charmed a few of his victims over the years, and the casual misogyny of the era is slyly highlighted by the filmmakers. Chilling at times, with a good cast.

2023-U.S. 94 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Anna Kendrick. Screenplay: Ian McDonald. Cast: Anna Kendrick (Sheryl Bradshaw), Daniel Zovatto (Rodney Alcala), Tony Hale (Ed Burke), Nicolette Robinson, Pete Holmes, Autumn Best.

Trivia: Co-executive produced by Kendrick. First shown at the Toronto film festival, then released on Netflix in the U.S., in theaters internationally.

Last word: “Sometimes [the male producers] would be like, ‘I’m not sure that that moment totally plays.’ And I was like, ‘I’m telling you that it does.’ And if there are men in the audience who don’t understand what’s happening in this moment, that’s fine with me. I would rather have it be more of a reflection of my lived experience, and what I imagine many women’s lived experiences are.” (Kendrick, Variety)