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Woman of the Hour (2024)

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DZ-124: Making the Despicable Compelling

How does Film Noir show us terrible people doing terrible things without endorsing it?

AI✦Examines how the film walks a line between classical and neo-noir depictions of brutality--showing the audience exactly how horrible the violence is while maintaining the killer’s superficial charm that makes women feel safe around him.✦

⏱ 1h 10m

30 JAN 2026

Character · Theme · Structure

Listen if you need audiences to root for characters who do terrible things

▶ More Info

Mel and Chas continue to explore what Noir (the genre) can teach writers of all other genres. In particular:… →

Films: Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) , Woman of the Hour (2024)

Character: Character Motivation , Moral Ambiguity , Character Arcs , Antiheroes , Character Agency , Unreliable Narrator , Character Flaw , Audience Complicity , Character Wound

Theme: Worldview , Representation and Endorsement

Structure: Dramatic Questions

"I think these films have got really strong control over the questions and that’s how they get us to follow, compelling us to follow characters who are doing terrible things. And sometimes it’s removing the mystery. We know who did it in Woman of the Hour."

— chas | DZ-124: Making the Despicable Compelling

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