Woman of the HourEnding Explained: What Happened After Rodney Alcala’s Arrest — and Where Did the Real Cheryl Bradshaw End Up?

Mar. 15, 2025

Anna Kendrick as Sheryl and Daniel Zovatto as Rodney in Woman of the Hour.Photo:Leah Gallo/Netflix

Leah Gallo/Netflix

Warning:Woman of the Hourspoilers ahead!

Woman of the Hourtells the true story ofRodney Alcala, a serial killer who appeared on — and won — a dating game show in 1978.

Anna Kendrickmakes herdirectorial debutin the Netflix film, which shifts between timelines, depicting Rodney’s (Daniel Zovatto) interactions with various victims and his appearance as Bachelor No. 3 onThe Dating Game.

According to Netflix’s press notes forWoman of the Hour, Kendrick “wanted to find that balance between telling an emotionally satisfying narrative without glazing over the repeated miscarriages of justice that took place over the course of Alcala’s killing spree.”

The film’s ending does just that: it highlights the bittersweet victory of a teenage runaway who manages to escape while acknowledging the haunting reality that Rodney would go on to kill again. In the final scene, the runaway exhales deeply, a moment that offers an ambiguous ending — alluding both to her survival and the unsettling nature of Rodney’s fate.

“That’s the chord resolving at the end ofInto the Woods, and then one last ‘I wish’ ringing out. Because there isn’t a perfect resolution: That character has survived, but it’s not as simple as ‘She’s going to be fine now.’ It’s meant to evoke dissonance at the very least,” Kendrick toldTudumin October 2024.

Here’s everything to know about the ending ofWoman of the Hour, from why Amy asked Rodney to keep his attack on her a secret to what happened after Rodney’s arrest.

How didWoman of the Hourend?

Tony Hale as Ed, Anna Kendrick as Sheryl and Daniel Zovatto as Rodney in Woman of the Hour.Leah Gallo/Netflix

The film builds suspense as viewers wonder if Sheryl (Kendrick), the aspiring actress and lead onThe Dating Gamewho unknowingly chooses Rodney as her winning date, will become one of his victims, and what will happen to Amy, the teenager he picked up in San Gabriel, Calif.

After the dating show wrapped filming, Rodney and Sheryl go to a bar for a drink, where she grows suspicious and ends the date early, discreetly signaling the server to not bring another round. When she tries to leave, Rodney insists on walking her to her car. He asks for her phone number to stay in touch before their all-expenses-paid trip to Carmel, Calif. She gives him a fake number, but he catches on when she can’t recite it.

Sheryl informs him that she won’t be going anywhere with him and he proceeds to chase her to her car. Just as Rodney is about to attack her, crew members appear in the parking lot, prompting him to walk away and Sheryl to drive home unharmed but in tears.

According to Netflix’s press notes forWoman of the Hour, Kendrick explained, “There’s no happy ending with a story like this.”

“So I hope the movie speaks to anyone who has made themselves small and pleasing because they were just trying to survive physically or financially or mentally. It’s for those of us who have thought ‘thank god I listened to my gut’ and certainly for those of us who know the pain of thinking ‘I wish I had listened to my gut,’ ” the actress added.

What happened to Rodney after his arrest?

Daniel Zovatto as Rodney in Woman of the Hour.Leah Gallo/Netflix

Rodney was rearrested in 1979, as authorities began touncover the extent of his crimes, which had gone unnoticed for over a decade despite reports from survivors and citizens. He was eventually convicted of seven murders, though some authorities estimate his actual victim count could be as high as 130.

After serving 31 years in prison, Rodney had a final chance for acquittal. However, the runaway teen (now an adult) appeared in court to testify against him and “put the nail in Rodney’s coffin,” according to the prosecutor.

Rodney died in incarceration on July 24, 2021.

Why did Amy ask Rodney to keep the attack a secret?

Autumn Best as Amy and Daniel Zovatto as Rodney in Woman of the Hour.Netflix

Netflix

On the way home, he apologizes for being rough, and she assures him that everything is okay. When he stops at a gas station along the way to use the bathroom — and wash Amy’s blood off his hands — she stays back in the car, seizing the opportunity to escape.

What happened to Amy after she ran from Rodney?

Autumn Best as Amy in Woman of the Hour.Netflix

Although Amy is a fictional character, she was based on the real-life story of a runaway teen who survived an encounter with Rodney, but whose identity remains undisclosed given that she was a minor at the time.

In real life, two young survivors —Tali Shapiro and Morgan Rowan— escaped Rodney a decade before he appeared onThe Dating Game.

Tali appeared at Rodney’s sentencing in 2010 and testified against him, which prompted Morgan to write her a letter over Facebook, apologizing for not reporting Rodney sooner. They went on to meet in person and build a relationship.

“It was just wonderful. We spent a couple days together. We were like sisters,” Morgan toldPEOPLE Magazine Investigates: Surviving a Serial Killer, which aired in May 2024.

Tali expressed relief after his death, tellingThe New York Timesin July 2021, “The planet is a better place without him, that’s for sure.”

Did Sheryl and Rodney ever see each other again — and where did the real Cheryl Bradshaw end up?

Anna Kendrick as Sheryl in Woman of the Hour.Leah Gallo/Netflix

During a 2021 episode of20/20,The Dating Gamecontestant coordinator Ellen Metzger recalled that the real-life Cheryl Bradshaw told the producers she couldn’t go on a date with Rodney. “She said, ‘Ellen, I can’t go out with this guy. There’s weird vibes that are coming off of him. He’s very strange. I am not comfortable. Is that going to be a problem?’ ” Ellen said. “And of course, I said, ‘No.’ ”

In the film, Sheryl is last seen packing her belongings for a move, telling her agent she’s done with auditions and acting and standing up for herself one more time with her pushy neighbor.

“Ian and I were debating whether maybe there’s a little bit of dialogue or a conversation between Sheryl and her neighbor at the end of the movie, and nothing was feeling right,” Kendrick told Tudum in October 2024. “And Ian suddenly suggested like, ‘Well, what if Sheryl just stands her ground in the hallway, and he has to move around her?’ I think I threw my highlighter across the room — I was so excited.”

Kendrick added that she felt as though that scene in the hallway with her neighbor was a way of “illustrating the complexity of a victory that’s small, but it’s meaningful to that character.”

As the end titles reveal, the real Cheryl left California to live a private life and raise a family.

Kendrick revealed toTODAYin October 2024 that Cheryl has since died and that in making and portraying her in the movie there are many things she wished she could have asked her, including “what it felt like for her to trust herself.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.

source: people.com