Alternate Best Actor 2024: Daniel Zovatto in Woman of the Hour

Daniel Zovatto did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Rodney Alcala in Woman of the Hour. 

Woman of the Hour follows serial killer Rodney Alcala including his appearance on the dating game. 

Daniel Zovatto takes on the role of real life Rodney Alcala which is actually the majority of the film despite the name of the film where we occasionally check in with the strange dating game story. Much of the time the film captures instead the horrible crimes of Alcala as he goes about brutally murdering various women, directed with often eerie calm by director/co-star Anna Kendrick, which very much relies on Zovatto’s performance. Where Zovatto’s performance very much is realizing the nature of the psychopath, specifically the ability to create an appearance of normalcy. Zovatto though doesn’t just portray Alcala’s ability at being normal but rather even worse his ability to be charming. The activity we see associated with him being his interest in photography and film. Zovatto brings an outgoing ease with these scenes, and despite his impressive stature is even able to be disarming. The way he presents himself physically there’s a certain relaxed open manner he exudes when approaching the women each time. Zovatto makes it worse than that because when you see Alcala compliment the women, Zovatto very much brings this quiet warmth in his performance whenever he compliments them about their beauty and just seems to be a caring guy. Zovatto puts on the seemingly ideal face of the good person who you can trust each time he approaches the women, Zovatto makes it eerily convincing because of that charm. 

Unfortunately in every situation what we have with Alcala is a true psychopath who can present himself one way, which being completely the opposite behind the false charming mask he puts forth for all to see. Zovatto’s performance is particularly disturbing in the ease of his performance in putting the hints to his nature in the moments just before he approaches the women or merely when they aren’t looking. In just a second his eyes change from that of the disarming man, to that of a predator as he looks upon them suddenly with this cold detachment and very much seems to be observing them as a specimen for himself rather than as a person. Zovatto’s physical manner changes as the way he can suddenly no longer seem like a gentle giant, but instead the scariest of brutes. As Zovatto just changed his posture a little to suddenly create this more vicious stance where you see the monster in the waiting show itself. Zovatto’s performance is particularly disturbing in the way he presents this as a natural flow for Alcala in these scenes, it isn’t a case where you see him go one way or another, rather what Zovatto shows is this particularly chilling control over his own nature. Zovatto very specifically presents the way that Alcala willingly plays a game with the women. He’s not turning from one nature to another, he is the psychopath the entire time, and rather the false face of the trustworthy photographer is merely a tool he knowingly engages as much as he does with his photographs. 

When the monster fully comes out it becomes absolutely horrifying each and every time Because Zovatto’s performance makes it all so easy for the man. The viciousness isn’t something he needs to pull out of himself, it's just what he is and he begins to be himself in such disturbing detail. Such as in the opening scene of the film, which is honestly one of the most chilling cinematic moments depicted in a film, where Alcala goes about choking a woman to death, only to perform CPR on her in order to essentially murder her twice. Zovatto throughout this process is terrifying because you see the calm about himself so often, in even the way he physically starts to interact as he’s making the turn is though he’s playing with a tone he chooses to break in the way he feels like. As it progresses Zovatto presents this clarity in Alcala’s thought throughout, as it isn’t something he pulls out, it is rather the actions of the man where it is merely something he does to himself. Something we also see in the couple moments where one of the other dating game bachelor’s confront him and Alcala shows the man one of his murder photos. Zovatto’s smile is incredibly disturbing because you see just how much for Alcala that the whole process, including murder photos, and every brutality is nothing but a hobby for himself, with the false face, and the brutality just going naturally hand in hand as a step by step process of a fiend. 

The one exception to this game is specifically with one potential victim a runaway Amy (Autumn Best) who we mostly see him going about his usual process by describing her as looking like Linda Manz then getting her to come out with him to the desert with the idea of a photoshoot, and again Zovatto in portraying each segment of the process is scary just by the how relaxed it all is. The difference in this situation though is after the initial attack by Alcala, Amy doesn't react how he expected her to do so, as instead of screaming or attacking she just lies by treating as normal and that she promises to keep it all a secret. Zovatto’s great in this scene because his emotional breakdown in the moment shows that frankly this is something that isn’t computing in the twisted mind of Alcala and by breaking the mold, we see Zovatto portray just the emotional mess of a creature that Alcala is behind all the confidence he expresses when within his process. However it works as Alcala lets her live and even begins driving her back to the city, where Zovatto’s performance continues to impress by the differences he brings throughout the sequence. As you see the man is somewhat lost as he’s strangely lost his usual control, and almost unable to comprehend what is going on in his mind. Zovatto successfully reveals the one time Alcala is out of his comfort zone in a way which reveals just this broken mess of a psyche that by chance allows Amy to get away. Zovatto gives a terrific performance here by granting such chilling detail to the process where he is captivating in showing both the lure of his killer but also the hideous nature behind a deceptive smile.