It isn’t so much that Alice, Darling, the feature-length directorial debut of Mary Nighy, was a good movie nor an enjoyable watch, but rather how it remains in your mind long after its watch. It’s both a timely and timeless movie about emotional abuse, told exclusively through the eyes of a victim amid the turmoil, but having no sense of what to do about it or even if she knows if she’s genuinely experiencing this abuse. In this regard, the movie hits on all cylinders, even when it misses almost everything else.

Alice, Darling has a significant discrepancy on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 84% fresh critics score but just a 44% fresh audience score. When the scores between the groups are so large, there is often a reason. More often than not, it’s a poor critic score that focuses on the mechanics, acting, directing, script, coherence, continuity, etc., compared to a high audience score that views the same film from a lens of entertainment. When the scores are reversed, such as in the case with Alice, Darling, I wonder if it’s because the audience is missing something that the critics are not. Considering some of the film’s problems, which I’ll touch on later, I am somewhat shocked by the 84% critic score. Likewise, because of the subject matter and the intensity, at times, that this film brought to a topic that has become so commonplace and talked about in news outlets and social media, I don’t understand the low audience score, other than maybe audiences were expecting a different film based on the type of movies that the lead actor had previously been known for.

Alice, Darling is a case study of the mental and emotional abuse inflicted in a possessive, intimate relationship. In this film, it is the woman whom the man is abusing. Filmed in the present day and through recent flashbacks, we witness a female protagonist who finds herself in pure turmoil, so far torn from the person she has always been that her closest friends hardly recognize her. Alice is so far deep that she cannot comprehend that it is an abusive relationship, convincing herself that her feelings are either normal or deserved and that she should be lucky to be with such a good-looking and ambitious man who cares so much about her that he tries to dictate her life. Not even close to being on her radar is that her partner’s behavioral pattern is being used to maintain his power and control to get exactly what he wants and when he wants it. The film digs deep into the origins of abuse and how it can manifest differently, especially as it grows deeper. With this, the film feels purposeful, nuanced, and nearly perfectly paced. While it does many things effectively, Alice, Darling is bogged down by its supporting actors’ performances, a poor script, and inexperienced director. Ultimately, it is still a haunting portrayal of domestic abuse hidden behind what appears to be perfect public bliss.

Alice (Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air, Pitch Perfect) meets her best friends Tess (Wunmi Mosaku – Call Jane) and Sophie (Tiio Horn – Journey to the Center of the Earth) at a restaurant to celebrate her birthday. The trio has spent less time together than they once did. Right away, Tess and Sophie notice that something is off with Tess, observations that they keep to themselves. She seems antsy and distressed while constantly looking at her phone. At one point, we see her go to the bathroom and take a photo of her breast at the request of her boyfriend Simon (Charlie Carrick – The Wolf and the Lion, Held for Ransom), who has been blowing up her phone with text messages.

The three women talk about a girls’ weekend getaway, away from the hustle and bustle of the world, disguised as a way for Tess and Sophie to intervene with Alice and figure out what is going on with her. While she initially resists, she eventually agrees to go on the trip despite some mild protesting from Simon, who goes so far as to ridicule her friends and tell Alice that she’s better than them. We see firsthand how Alice caters to Simon’s demands, whether controlling dietary habits, demeaning her, or using her body to fulfill his sexual desires. From Alice, we see such tendencies as nervous twitching, pulling out her hair, biting her nails, fumbling with her phone the second she feels it vibrate, and more. She has constant unpleasant visions of Simon, though she doesn’t completely comprehend why or how to make them stop. She is blind to what is happening, which makes it feel all the more real.

The weekend is spent with a few laughs, much fighting, accusations, selfishness, reflection, and reconciliation as Tess and Sophie try to understand and help their friend. As the weekend progresses, Alice sees a side of herself that she has been missing. However, lurking in the shadows are images of Simon both through flashbacks and as a way of how he might react if he really knew the intentions of Tess and Sophie. The two friends are bound to cross paths with Simon in some fashion as this psychological thriller continues to build.

While primarily known for the Pitch Perfect franchise, my exposure to Kendrick is mainly through the bright, ambitious, full-of-life college graduate opposite Vera Farmiga’s older, seasoned rule-bender in the fantastic  Up in the Air. While Kendrick’s performance felt a bit campy, she earned her first (and only to date) Oscar nomination. The only movie I saw between Up in the Air and Alice, Darling was A Simple Favor, a film that resonated well with critics and audiences but was one that I did not enjoy at all. While Alice, Darling is much more familiar with A Simple Favor than Pitch Perfect or Up in the Air, the vibe I felt was very different.

Kendrick is the by far the best part of the film. She dances in circles around her three co-stars. We’ve seen domestic abuse played out in film and television, but not through the lens of someone as entuned with the material as Kendrick. She brought realism to a movie that could have otherwise been a disaster. Despite the lackluster supporting cast, Alice, Darling would have benefited from a more accomplished director. It’s a story that is timely and timeless at the same time. The script was so bad that it felt cringeworthy at times. However, it overcomes much of this with Kendrick’s gripping performance and its overall messaging. It feels like Kendrick isn’t just playing a character suffering mental and emotional domestic violence. Kendrick Alice comes alive and forces us to wonder if someone close to our lives might be secretly hiding their own story.

Plot 9.5/10
Character Development 8.25/10
Character Chemistry 7/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 7/10
Directing  7.25/10
Cinematography 7.75/10
Sound 8.25/10
Hook and Reel 8.5/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
81.5%

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