Une femme en jeu

This film does a good job of revealing the ways psychopaths often use charm to lure their victims. I appreciate the fact that the film is by no means a typical horror film or a typical psychological thriller. Most of the violent acts in this film are only portrayed via the events leading up to them (or after them), and so much of the actual violence is indirectly portrayed rather than actually being shown. It keeps things light enough -- and doesn't show enough actual violence -- in order for the film to remain watchable but at the same time, it is often very unsettling and disturbing. The scene in the parking lot after the taping of the Dating Game really perfectly conveyed the same feeling that the character played by Anna would be feeling at the time. It's as though I could literally feel her own fear and uneasiness. I think Anna's acting and directing in this film were superb, as was all of the acting in general. What I appreciate most about this film is its underlying message(s) or themes regarding how women can so easily fall prey to the darker side of the male ego and how manipulative some men can be when it comes to women, such as exploiting the innocence or vulnerability of women for their own selfish gain. I also appreciate how it shoes that society in general (and especially back then) actually encourages and often condones this kind of treatment toward women -- dehumanizing and objectifying them. And as the film shows, even intelligent women are susceptible to the charm of the psychopath -- and society alone can render them vulnerable. This message was not only delivered via the behavior and violence of "Rodney" but also via the behavior of a few other male characters in the film. Anyone hoping for a typical serial killer film is going to be disappointed with this one. But anyone hoping for something with more underlying depth will hopefully appreciate it.

This film spoke to me for a couple of reasons. I was a college student during the time depicted in this film, and I remember very well how naïve many young women were about how manipulative, conniving, and dangerous some men could be. I'm fortunate that nothing happened to me, because I certainly took some risks in situations where I should have known better. And then when something like a sexual crime did happen to a young woman, law enforcement didn't always take it seriously. They often thought the girl was asking for it because, for example, she was wearing a short skirt and walking alone at night.

The pacing of this film is deliberate and intense, and it switches back and forth between time frames and victims. I found it a little annoying at first, but it all made sense at the end. I thought Anna Kendrick and Daniel Zovatto played their roles extremely well. Zovatto came across as creepy AF. A few points are fictionalized, of course, and I'm not sure how much. I did some reading about Rodney Alcala, and the way he was apprehended is essentially accurate. If you can deal with the slow pace of this film, it's well worth the watch.

I ended up being really frustrated watching this given the fact that I thought it had a really good hook. In the end the whole thing just ends up feeling like a series of short films only a couple of which I found to be engaging and when put together into one film it just ends up feeling repetitive. That's not to say it isn't effective, it is absolutely appropriately brutal its depiction of violence towards women but also in how it portrays the sexism of the 70's. The main thing that intrigued me about this movie was the idea of the game show portion and that ended feeling really undercooked and in the overall narrative it didn't ultimately amount to much. There are very effective sequences and it's very handsomely shot but it's so uneven that I couldn't help but feel disappointed in the final product.

Aspiring actress Sheryl Bradshaw struggles to land her big break, to get her face seen, she agrees to go on a dating show, where she meets Rodney Alcala, unaware that she's interacting with a serial killer.

It's a good film, definitely well made and well acted, it's almost shocking to discover that the film is based on actual, real life events. A little research will detail just how monstrous Alcala was, he clearly committed multiple murders, and got away with it for years.

It's well paced and even though it jumps around the timeline a little, it's easy to follow. It's done in a way to show just how dangerous Alcala was, and how much danger Sheryl, our central character is in.

I'm a big fan of Anna Kendrick, and she did such a good job as Sheryl, she's great, Daniel Zovatto perhaps steals it, he's excellent as Alcala.

One scene that did confuse me a little, were they implying that Alcala was flirting with a guy, and trying to lure him to his death? It felt a little bizarre.

7/10.

This film is a highly dramatized, poorly paced retelling of true events. While I did enjoy how the movie handled sexism and violence towards women, and while there were several really effective sequences, the overall product just falls kind of flat.

The movie bounces around between Alcala with various victims, Sheryl on the dating show, and Sheryl in her personal life. The movie can't seem to decide if it wants to focus on Sheryl, the dating show filming, or Alcala. Although it's a neat factoid that Alcala was on a dating show, that really doesn't work for the crux of an entire film unless you're going to have people's lungs exploding and heads spinning a la Late Night with the Devil.

Not a bad movie but wouldn't necessarily recommend it either.