How 2 key characters in ‘Woman of the Hour’ are based on people who had brushes with Dating Game killer Rodney Alcala

Amy (Autumn Best) meets Rodney in San Gabriel, California, on Valentine’s Day 1979. Rodney charms her by calling her beautiful and asks her to be his model for a photo contest he wants to enter.

While taking photos of her in the desert, secluded from any possible witnesses, Rodney tackles her. She wakes up with her hands and ankles tied, jeans pulled down, and blood on her face and clothing.

Amy asks Rodney not to tell anyone about what happened because she’d be embarrassed. She then fools Rodney by asking if they could go back to his place, which he agrees to. When Rodney stops at a gas station to use the bathroom and wash blood out of his fingernails, Amy takes the opportunity to flee before he returns to his car.

The movie ends with Amy standing at a nearby diner after calling the police and watching in satisfaction and relief as they arrest Rodney.

Amy is based on Monique Hoyt, a real person who survived her encounter with Alcala

In “Woman of the Hour,” Laura is an audience member on “The Dating Game” who recognizes Rodney as the man who raped and murdered her friend Alison the previous year.

In one scene, Laura expresses regret over leaving Alison alone with Rodney at a bonfire despite sensing something was off about him. Throughout the movie, people doubt Laura and don’t take her seriously when she voices her suspicions about the “Dating Game” contestant. This includes her boyfriend Ken (Max Lloyd-Jones), a security guard on the show’s set, and an officer at a police station.

Laura’s experience reflects the way the real Alcala was reported to law enforcement multiple times but didn’t face consequences until much later in life.

“Laura really functions as kind of a representation of all the people that tried to raise the alarm and were ignored,” Kendrick told Tudum. “There are so many heroes in this story, but the heroes were outnumbered and outgunned by incompetence and negligence and a culture that did not prioritize victims.”