Explanation of the end of “The woman of the hour”: what happened to Rodney Alcalá?

Anna Kendrick’s new Netflix movie, Woman of the Hourtells the incredible true story of Rodney Alcala, aka the Dating Game Killer. This real-life serial killer, who is suspected of killing as many as 130 people, took a break from his killing spree to appear in a 1978 episode of the game show. The dating gamewhere he was chosen as the winning bachelor.

In her directorial debut, Anna Kendrick reimagines that infamous 1978 dating game episode, where she plays the female contestant, Cheryl Bradshaw. She brings to life several of Alcalà’s victims, including a 15-year-old hitchhiker who eventually managed to escape with his life.

Woman of the Hour was written by Ian McDonald, and also stars Tony Hale, Nicolette Robinson, Kathryn Gallagher, Pete Holmes and Autumn Best. Since the film is based on a true story, the ending comes with those obligatory “where are they now” credit title cards. If you’re confused, don’t worry: Decider is here to help. Read on for a breakdown of the Woman of the Hour ending explained.

Woman of the Hour plot summary:

We’re introduced to serial killer Rodney Alcala (played by Daniel Zovatto) in Wyoming in 1977, after he lures a woman named Sarah (played by Kelley Jakle, based on Alcala’s real-life victim Christine Thornton) into the desert claiming to be a professional photographer. He murders Sarah by strangling her.

Next, we meet our protagonist Sheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick), who is based on the real-life Cheryl Bradshaw who selected Alcalá as the winner of The Dating Game in 1978. (Kendrick’s character is spelled “Sheryl” with an “S,” in a somewhat confusing attempt to differentiate the character from the real person.) Bradshaw’s version of Kendrick is an aspiring actress struggling to overcome 1970s sexism to be taken seriously as an actor in Hollywood . He reluctantly accepts a show as a contestant The dating gameafter her agent assures her that he will “see her”. Of course, this is the episode in which Alcalá appeared as a contestant, in the middle of his killing spree in California.

A few moments of this real dating game The episode was faithfully recreated in the film, including the host’s condescending joke about contestant Cheryl Bradshaw quitting her job as a foot masseuse when her boss asked her to “try hard “. However, most of the other details surrounding Bradshaw in the film and its time The dating gamethey were made up for the movie. In this fictionalized version of the episode, Sheryl gets tired of the sexist questions and starts grilling the bachelors about literature and astronomy. Alcalá gives the “best” answers and Sheryl finally chooses him as the winner.

Another character invented for the film was Laura, played by Nicolette Robinson, a member of the public a The dating game who recognizes Alcalà as the suspicious man seen with her best friend before she was killed. Alcalá wasn’t actually recognized by anyone on the game show, or if he was, we don’t know. But in the film, Laura’s friend Allison is found murdered in her apartment after spending a night at the beach with Alcalá. Allison appears to be based on real-life victim Georgia Marie Wixted. Wixted’s body was found naked and strangled in the bedroom of her Malibu apartment, after a co-worker reported her missing to the police. In the film, Laura tries to contact him dating game producers to let them know what he knows about Alcalà, but he doesn’t take it seriously and therefore can’t report him.

Kendrick interjects them dating game scenes with depictions of Alcalà murdering his many victims. This includes Charlie (played by Kathryn Gallagher), a woman from New York who asks Alcalá to help her move into her apartment. Charlie is based on real-life victim Cornelia Crilley, a 23-year-old flight attendant murdered by Alcalá in her Upper Eastside Manhattan apartment in 1971 by strangling her.

The final real-life victim depicted in the film is 15-year-old Monique Hoyt, who goes by the name “Amy” in the film, and is played by actor Autumn Best. Alcala picks Amy up in his car and seems to have a deeper connection with her than with the other victims, especially after the two bond over having absent parents. As he has done with other victims, Alcalà takes Amy to a remote location and attacks her, under the pretext of wanting to photograph her.

Back to The dating gameSheryl picks Rodney as the winner and agrees to go out for drinks with him after the show. The date starts well at first, but then Sheryl starts picking up Rodney’s intense, creepy vibes. When he asks for her number at the end of the night, she gives him a fake one. After he forces her to reveal that he gave her a fake number, she comments that they probably won’t be going on their winning date in Carmel together. She replies that no, she’s not going anywhere with him, a nod to the real-life Bradshaw, who reportedly refused to go out with Alcalá on their winning date. Alcalá moves towards Sheryl, as if to attack, but Sheryl is saved when people leave the studio, allowing her to escape.

Woman of the Hour ending explained:

The end of Woman of the Hour brings us back to 15-year-old Amy, who wakes up after being assaulted and tied up by Alcalá in the desert. Instead of fighting, Amy acts like nothing is wrong and talks to Alcalà tenderly. She asks him not to tell anyone what happened, cleverly implying that therefore he won’t tell anyone, and asks him to go back to his place. Alcalá agrees. He unties her and takes her back to town.

When Alcalà stops to use the bathroom for a gas statin, Amy flees to a nearby restaurant and calls the police. Watch from the dining room as Alcalà is arrested. It is based on the real victim, Monique Hoyt, who testified at Alcalà’s trial in 2010 that she managed to escape after being beaten and raped, by convincing Alcalà that she wanted to continue the relationship. The film ends, along with some title cards explaining what happened in Alcalà next.

Alcalá was later arrested for assaulting Hoyt in 1979, but was released on bail. Alcalá was finally arrested for murder a few months later, in 1979, for killing 12-year-old Robin Christine Samsoe, whose body was found by Los Angeles authorities. The girl’s friends told the police that before she died she had been approached by a strange man on the beach. The resulting police sketch was recognized by Alcalà’s probation officer, and authorities found Samsoe’s earrings in a closet rented by Alcalà.

Alcalá went to prison after Samsoe’s murder, but thanks to a series of complicated legal technicalities, he was not properly convicted until 2010, when he was tried on five counts of murder. At the trial, Alcalà acted as his own lawyer and offered a rambling, disjointed and ineffective defense. He was found guilty of all five charges and sentenced to death, but his execution was stayed after California’s 2019 state moratorium on the death penalty. A year later, he was charged with two more murders in New York by Manhattan Supreme Court, and in 2013, sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

In 2021, Alcalá died of natural causes at the age of 77 while incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison in California.