I think Netflix has a slight problem. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and debuted just a few weeks later on Netflix with no fanfare. Yesterday they released the trailer for The Most Hated Woman in America starring Melissa Leo and it premieres in a couple weeks. Some movies, like Brad Pitt’s War Machine and whatever Adam Sandler is sh*tting out get a little more lead time, but it seems like Netflix is dropping movies without really alerting anyone to their existence. Maybe the marketing resource allocation needs to be examined?
It’s a shame because some good movies are getting buried. I Don’t Feel at Home is pretty great, and The Most Hated Woman in America looks good, too. Melissa Leo stars as Madalyn Murray O’Hair, founder of American Atheists—her son was the plaintiff in Murray v. Curlett, which led to the Supreme Court ruling that ended prayer in public schools. That’s what made her the “most hated woman in America”, but that’s not really what the movie is about. Because Madalyn Murray O’Hair ended up the victim of a gruesome kidnapping-murder.
The movie looks like it’s mostly focused on the kidnapping, with Josh Lucas playing the main kidnapper. It’s a bonkers story—how long it went on, how badly it ended, how apathetic the local police were—and I’m into the tone of the trailer. There’s a little touch of sleaziness that suits the whole affair. I’m also into Melissa Leo, who is great at playing “difficult” women, getting a role like this, although her makeup is kind of busted. But that aside, Hated Woman looks pretty great. Not sure why Netflix is just tossing it out here like an afterthought.
