What happened to the real Amy from Woman of the Hour? Details explored

Woman of the Hour is a crime thriller based on the life of the serial killer Rodney Alcala and his appearance on The Dating Game show in 1978. It is written by Ian McDonald and serves as Anna Kendrick's directorial debut, who also stars in it. The movie is produced by Roy Lee, Raphael Margules, Miri Yoon, and J. D. Lifshitz.

Woman of the Hour premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2023, and was released on Netflix the following year on October 18, 2024.

The film's official logline, as per Netflix, reads:

"The stranger-than-fiction story of an aspiring actress in 1970s Los Angeles and a serial killer in the midst of a yearslong murder spree, whose lives intersect when they’re cast on an episode of The Dating Game."

The film showcases many of Rodney's crimes and his victims, one of whom is a young runaway named Amy. The character is based on Rodney's real-life target, Monique Hoyt. She was se*ually and physically assaulted by him in 1979 but managed to escape his clutches.

Disclaimer: This article mentions assault and other sensitive topics. Reader discretion is advised.

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Who was the real Amy depicted in Woman of the Hour?

An image taken from Woman of the Hour (Image via Tudum by Netflix)

Amy's character in Woman of the Hour is based on Monique Hoyt, who had a close call with Alcala in 1979.

Monique was 15 years old when she met Alcala on February 14, 1979. She was a young runaway hitchhiking in Riverside County when Rodney offered her a lift. He drove her to his apartment and se*ually assaulted her. But the serial killer was not done with her yet as he drove her to a remote mountainous region near Banning, California, and assaulted her again.

Monique escaped the fate of many of Rodney's victims by convincing him that she wanted to keep seeing him. As they drove back to Riverside County, Rodney stopped at a gas station and Hoyt used this moment to flee from the car. She informed the police and got Rodney arrested, but he was released after his mother posted his bail.

The film's postscript reveals that after this incident, Alcala went on to murder a 21-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl. He was eventually arrested on July 24, 1979, and held without bail.

During his last trial in 2010, the 46-year-old Monique Hoyt testified against her perpetrator in court. According to LA Weekly, she was still traumatized by the incident and needed a police detective to sit by her during the proceedings to feel safe. The postscript also mentioned that Hoyt's testimony, according to the prosecutor, "put the nail in Rodney's coffin."

During her testimony, Monique said that Rodney wrote horrific lies about her in his 1994 book titled You, the Jury, (which he wrote from prison) to tarnish her reputation.

After his arrest in 1979, Alcala spent the rest of his life in prison and died from natural causes on July 24, 2021, while on death row.

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Amy's character arc explored in Woman of the Hour

Autumn Best is seen as Amy in Woman of the Hour (Image via Tudum by Netflix)

The young actress, Autumn Best plays Amy in Woman of the Hour. Her life-changing encounter with Rodney is slightly altered in the movie.

Amy is a runaway, who meets the charming Rodney Alcala on February 14, 1979, in San Gabriel, California. He introduces himself as a photographer and tells Amy he wants to take her pictures for a photography contest.

They drive off to a remote area in the desert, where Rodney proceeds to take her pictures before assaulting her. When she wakes up, a horrified Amy finds blood on her clothes and face, with her hands and ankles tied and her jeans pulled down. She also watches Rodney crying in front of her in what seems like a moment of self-pity.

The film's writer Ian McDonald reflected on this scene while speaking to Tudum by Netflix on October 19, 2024:

“The story where the young drifter wakes up after having been attacked, and she looks over at him, and he’s crying — there’s a way in which I still don’t quite know what to make of that. I don’t think these sorts of people are really capable of empathy. So I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s probably something more [like] shame or embarrassment on some level.”

Amy urges him to keep whatever happened between them a secret and tells Rodney she wants to go back to his place. The young girl wins his trust in that moment, which ends up saving her life. On their way to his house, Rodney stops at a gas station to use the restroom and clean the blood off his fingernails.

Amy swiftly jumps out of the car and calls the police from a nearby diner. The movie's final shot features the young girl sighing in relief as she watches Rodney get arrested by the police from a safe distance.

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Woman of the Hour is available to stream on Netflix.