Taglines: The hardest thing to see is the truth.
Alice, Darling movie storyline. In the taut thriller Alice, Darling, Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick stars as a woman pushed to the breaking point by her psychologically abusive boyfriend, Simon. While on vacation with two close girlfriends, Alice rediscovers the essence of herself and gains some much-needed perspective. Slowly, she starts to fray the cords of codependency that bind her. But Simon’s vengeance is as inevitable as it is shattering – and, once unleashed, it tests Alice’s strength, her courage, and the bonds of her deep-rooted friendships.
Once they realize what’s happening, Alice’s friends try to convince her that her relationship isn’t normal, but she continues to doubt herself, constantly modulating where she goes or what she eats, unable to disconnect from Simon, even though she knows she’s unhappy. As the weekend progresses, not only their friendship hangs in the balance, but also Alice’s safety. The women become entangled in a psychological tug-of-war with Simon, who continues his attempts at excising Alice from those closest to her.
Alice, Darling is a 2022 psychological thriller film directed by Mary Nighy, in her directorial debut, from a screenplay by Alanna Francis. The film stars Anna Kendrick, Kaniehtiio Horn, Charlie Carrick, and Wunmi Mosaku.
Alice, Darling had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2022, and was released in select cinemas on December 30, 2022, in Los Angeles at the AMC Sunset 5, before a wide release later in the United States on January 20, 2023, exclusively in AMC Theatres.
About the Story
Alice is in a psychologically abusive relationship with her boyfriend, Simon. After taking a vacation with friends, she decides to reassess her relationship with Simon and attempts to break her codependency. Simon allows Alice out for a rare evening at a bar with her two best friends Tess and Sophie. The women notice that she is distracted and flinches at each ping from her phone, and throughout the evening she constantly touches her hair.
It is implied that Alice met Simon in Tess’s circle. However, despite Simon’s connection to Tess, he seems to be removing her from her friends. Sophie proposes that they should celebrate Tess’ birthday at her parents’ house up north, which Alice readily agrees to. Rather than tell Simon the truth, she informs him it is a work trip to Minneapolis.
On the trip to the cottage, the trio makes a quick stop at a convenience store, where Alice spots a flyer for a missing girl, Andrea. The missing person case seems to consume Alice. The three women spend time together at the cottage, the rural town and a lake near the cottage. Simon discovers where they are from reading Alice’s emails and calls her, demanding she leave and return to him. Alice packs up but Tess hides her phone and wallet, while Sophie goes to the store as an excuse for Tess and Alice to spend time together.
Tess tries to teach Alice to paddle board on the lake. She jokingly rocks the board thus Alice falls off and loses her earring, a gift from Simon. Alice in a panic dives down to find the earring. Unsuccessful, she returns to the shore where she suffers further panic attacks muttering the phrase that she “can’t do another thing wrong”. When pressed by Tess they have an argument and Alice confesses that she hid their vacation retreat from Simon. Tess immediately questions Alice’s well-being. Alice cancels her plan to leave and the next morning she joins the search party for Andrea. Somewhere near an abandoned cottage she finds lipstick and thinks it belongs to Andrea.
Back in the cottage, the women repair their friendship and have a good time. Alice starts opening up to her friends, even at one point telling them that Simon never hurt her physically but eventually admitting Simon subjected her to emotional abuse. Alice stops responding to Simon’s messages, leading him to show up unannounced with grocery bags in hand. That evening at a very tense dinner, Simon pulls out a newspaper showing the news that the body of the missing girl was finally found. Alice takes out the lipstick and says what she thinks about it. Simon condescendingly attempts to shut her down.
Alice, Darling (2023)
Directed by: Mary Nighy
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Kaniethiio Horn, Wunmi Mosaku, Charlie Carrick, Daniel Stolfi, Mark Winnick, Susan Applewhaite, Mairi Babb, Toni Ellwand, Sara Bradeen, Deborah Grover
Screenplay by: Alanna Francis
Production Design by: Jennifer Morden
Cinematography by: Mike McLaughlin
Film Editing by: Gareth C. Scales
Costume Design by: Marissa Schwartz
Art Direction by: Claudia Dall’Orso
Music by: Owen Pallett
MPAA Rating: R for language and some sexual content.
Distributed by: Lionsgate Films
Release Date: January 20, 2023
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