Content warning: This article contains mild spoilers for the Netflix movie Woman of the Hour, and describes physical and sexual assault. Please take care while reading.
Netflix’s Woman of the Hour, Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut, is a fictionalized account of Rodney Alcala, also known as The Dating Game killer, who in 1978 appeared on the popular TV dating show and would later be convicted of murdering at least eight women, possibly more.
Woman of the Hour takes several liberties with the true Alcala story, who died on death row in 2021. For example, Kendrick’s character, Cheryl Bradshaw, is based on a real person who selected Alcala on the dating game show, but in real life, Bradshaw backed out, telling the show’s producers she found Alcala, played by Daniel Zovatto in Kendrick’s movie, “creepy.” Kendrick’s character, however, follows through with an impromptu date in the film.
Who was Monique Hoyt?
Towards the movie’s ending, Alcala lures then sexually assaults a teenage runaway — called Amy in Kendrick’s movie — who then plays a part in getting the serial killer arrested. Amy is based on a real person, Monique Hoyt, who was a 15-year-old runaway when she encountered Alcala in 1979.
According to Woman of the Hour, Amy (Autumn Best) leads Alcala to think she’s sexually interested in him after she’s assaulted, hoping this will forestall his murdering her, but then she escapes while Alcala’s character is using the bathroom at a gas station.
At that point, the police catch up with Alcala, and he’s arrested. In a onscreen text graphic, the film explains Hoyt’s testimony later proved crucial in Alcala’s conviction. But that’s not exactly how it happened.
What happened to Monique Hoyt?
While the movie explains that Alcala was back on the streets after the Hoyt attack, it omits that while Alcala was arrested, his mother posted bail, and he was freed. Alcala would kill at least two more women after Hoyt contacted the police. Some estimate Alcala may have killed as many as 130 women. As for Hoyt post-attack, she’s apparently kept her life private, and has stayed out of the limelight, understandably. Still, the plucky young woman is owed a tremendous debt of gratitude.
On working with Best on the harrowing scenes based on Hoyt’s experience, Zovatto, who plays Alcala, told Variety, “It was like six in the morning and it was f***ing cold. The sand was literally ice. Autumn was wearing absolutely nothing, and that girl was ready to go. She was like, ‘Let’s do this.’ When you have a scene partner like that, it just makes it that much fun because everybody’s on board.”
And on working with Kendrick on the difficult story inspired by Hoyt, “She was very, very quick to just be like, ‘Hey, I see you.’ Someone saying, ‘I see you,’ makes the day easier because then you don’t feel like you’re pretending it’s not hard.”
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.