Anna Kendrick, a Nervous Actor, Plays a Woman in an Abusive Relationship
A few minutes into “Alice, Darling,” audiences may be reminded of how 2020’s “The Invisible Man” opened: Anna Kendrick creeps out of bed at dawn, taking pains not to wake the partner we briefly assume she’s about to flee. Director – Unlike the Elisabeth Moss movie, which was a monster movie with a strong abusive-boyfriend backstory. Mary Nighy’s feature debut puts a woman’s difficult exit from a dangerous relationship front and center. This quietly powerful drama about psychological manipulations is now available at AMC Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, Dec. 30, and will be expanding to AMC theaters nationwide starting Jan. 20,
Alice (Kendrick), arrives late for a planned night out with her best friends Sophia (Wunmi Mosaku) and Tess(Kaniehtiio Horn) in an unknown city. We can tell she’s distracted, even fearful, sneaking away to the bathroom to tear her hair out — a nervous tic that escalates as the film unfolds. When we first meet the boyfriend she’s hurried home to, he seems nice enough. But tiny “off” notes and disturbing mind’s-eye flashbacks soon reveal that successful artist Simon (Charlie Carrick) is a control freak whose tormenting self-doubt and other neuroses all get taken out on Alice. He’s undermined her confidence in every way, being simultaneously demanding and belittling, begrudging the smallest attention she grants anyone but himself.
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Thus, when the three women orchestrate a lakeside vacation week to celebrate Tess’ 30th birthday, Alice can only get away by lying, telling Simon she’s on an obligatory work trip. Although he is not physically abusive, he has created such a wedge between her world and the rest of the planet that she cannot even bring herself to join this much-needed escape with trusted friends. Instead, she self-isolates, defensively batting away their concerns, demonstrating ways in which her thinking has been warped (especially as regards food and body image) — meanwhile fending off his constant, needy text messages.
At about the halfway point here, Alice has an irrational outburst that reveals the extent to which she’s suppressed cumulative panic. Soon, Alice begins to confide in herself the awful reality of her domestic life. But even having her phone taken away by the well-meaning besties isn’t enough to keep Simon at bay.
Alanna Francis’ nuanced script threads in a subplot about a missing young woman in this rural area, suggesting elements of murder mystery we anticipate might lead into more genre-oriented territory. That actually proves a red herring; “Alice, Darling” may frustrate those expecting its denouement to be reached by more violent or melodramatic means than those the filmmakers devise.
But the focus here is not so much on the object of Alice’s terror as it is the emotional bedrock of friendships Simon has (naturally) done his best to distance her from, and which may yet prove her salvation. While the word “intervention” is never spoken, that is this movie’s de facto The gist is that people who truly love you will be willing to take the chance of telling you who is just pretending to be as much, to your obvious harm. It is difficult to break a destructive dependency.
It’s a strong role for Kendrick, whose character may seem less than fully defined, but then that’s part of the point — Alice’s boyfriend has insidiously worn away any part of her personality that doesn’t prioritize him. Wunmi Moaku and Kaniehtiiohorn are excellent as BFF characters with a real inner life, not just serving as satellites to the protagonist. Carrick doesn’t make Simon seem like a solitary monster. To the extent that we see him, he’s charming and attractive enough of the time that we understand how Alice got sucked by degrees into a relationship operating much like a slow-acting poison.
Although the film could have had a stronger sense catharsis towards the end, it is still a good thing that Francis and Nighy exercise such careful prior restraint. That keeps “Alice, Darling” from any sense of contrivance, the silent worry in Kendrick’s every gesture maintaining sufficient tension despite the lack of overt thriller devices. The thoughtful assembly is complemented in particular by Owen Pallett’s piano-based original score and Mike McLaughlin’s handsome but unshowy cinematography.
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