, a deftly directed debut from Kendrick that announces her as a film-making talent to be reckoned with. Set in the early 1970s, the film takes as its jumping-off point a real event: the appearance of serial killer Rodney Alcala on the popular TV show. Kendrick stars as Cheryl Bradshaw, the struggling actor who is convinced by her agent to take part in the show, and who finds herself trading innuendo-heavy televised small talk with a man who is later revealed to be a mass murderer and rapist.
Another period picture that confronts the baked-in sexism of the time is the deliciously foul-mouthed and funny, a 1920s-set tale about a spate of poison pen letters that rock the coastal community of Littlehampton, Sussex. Olivia Colman is the simpering, saintly recipient of the missives; Jessie Buckley is the rambunctious Irish single mum who is suspected of sending them. Both are an absolute blast in this terrific comedy.