alice darling movie review

Alice, Darling

There is something bothering Alice. She’s underwater, watching the murky light and floating seaweed above her. She is not swimming back up for air—at least not yet. The scene is a precursor to something that will happen later in the movie “Alice, Darling,” but it’s also a visual metaphor for the character’s state of mind. In reality, she’s back on land, meeting her friends at a restaurant in the city. Although she’s in good company now, her mind is elsewhere. Below the surface of her smile, Alice ( Anna Kendrick ) is holding on to an abusive partner, Simon ( Charlie Carrick ), a truth revealed in a handful of uncomfortable conversations, guilt trips, and anxious behavior like pulling out her hair and panic attacks. Her relationship’s red flags are as clear as flashing billboard signs for her worried friends, but Alice looks past these warnings as if they’re her partner’s love language. Under the guise of a birthday getaway, her friends Sophie ( Wunmi Mosaku ) and Tess ( Kaniehtiio Horn ) stage an intervention for their friend sinking away from them: swim up and get out. Save yourself. 

Mary Nighy ’s feature debut “Alice, Darling” is a straightforward drama about getting caught in the undertow of a bad romance. The telltale signs seem obvious to outsiders like her friends and viewers, but for Alice, she’s still performing the mental gymnastics of justifying his controlling demands to her body, attention, and time and interpreting them as love and affection. She’s dug into a defensive position and unable to see the damage Simon’s behavior has caused her, how she fears asking for time for herself, how suffocatingly he clings to her skin.

Nighy balances these perspectives as generously as she can. Almost every exchange or nervous glance from friend to friend or lover to lover feels like a hostage negotiation. What should be tender moments between the young couple are often cruel rounds of verbal and emotional abuse. The tension of the situation is baked within every confrontational staging between the pair or how detached Alice looks and feels from her friends. Even when Simon isn’t physically there in the scene, the fallout of his presence is visually evident. It’s isolated Alice from those who truly care about her. 

The murkiness in Alice’s relationship carries over to the film’s aesthetics thanks to cinematographer Mike McLaughlin . Alice’s world looks a little less bright than the one her friends live in, as if she only ever ventures out on overcast days. There’s a warm tone to the girlfriend’s cabin trip to the woods, but something still looks off, like the peace and serenity of the location are somehow missing. In a move that overcomplicates the already tense drama at hand, Alanna Francis ’ script adds an element of danger to their trip through a subplot about a missing young woman. Alice becomes fixated on her, perhaps fatalistically so, and the mystery becomes an excuse for Simon to escalate his control over her. Maybe it’s to be a cautionary tale for Alice or something to entice her to escape, but none of this quite pans out as effectively as her narrative journey with her friends. 

As the movie’s namesake, Kendrick embodies the tortured feeling of holding onto someone harmful. Alice tells her friends, “He wouldn’t love me if he knew how bad I am,” justifying her mistreatment repeatedly to them and herself. Kendrick’s performance is a stunning departure from her usual bubbly screen presence. That persona fades behind the distracted stare of a person who has to calculate every pro and con of what they say before they say it. She is overwhelmed by the pressure and unable to swim up for air, an SOS which Kendrick communicates through a range of reactions, from catatonic vacant stares to succumbing to heaving waves of a panic attack on the bathroom floor. She’s committed to this story and her character. 

Kendrick’s performance is one of the strongest aspects of “Alice, Darling.” Under Nighy’s direction, they create an emotional portrait of someone on the verge of being lost to a warped distortion of love but who realizes they were surrounded by the real thing the entire time. For every cutting remark Simon makes at her expense, her friends are trying to rescue the person they knew before. That tension makes for good drama, but it takes the team’s sensitivity to make it feel as authentic as it does. It’s a relief when the credits roll, not unlike taking your first breath of fresh air after holding it underwater.

In theaters now. 

Monica Castillo

Monica Castillo is a critic, journalist, programmer, and curator based in New York City. She is the Senior Film Programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center and a contributor to  RogerEbert.com .

• Anna Kendrick as Alice
• Kaniehtiio Horn as Tess
• Charlie Carrick as Simon
• Wunmi Mosaku as Sophie
• Markjan Winnick as Marcus
• Daniel Stolfi as Officer
• Alanna Francis
• Gareth C. Scales

Cinematographer

• Mike McLaughlin
• Owen Pallett

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‘Alice, Darling’ Review: That’s What Friends Are For

Anna Kendrick stars in a drama about a woman in an abusive relationship who finds refuge with two girlfriends during a getaway.

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By Manohla Dargis

When the title character in “Alice, Darling” makes her entrance, she looks the picture of the thoroughly modern, liberated, happy woman. From the outside, Alice (Anna Kendrick) seems to have it all or almost, including a career, dear friends, a nice Toronto pad and an attentive boyfriend. Look closer, though, and you can see the fissures surrounding her smile. The longer you look, the more numerous and deeper the cracks appear, making the impeccable image that Alice presents to the world seem concerningly, precariously fragile.

I’m not a Kendrick completist, but I’m always happy to see her. A pleasant, personable, ever-so-slightly off presence, she is one of those performers who looks like someone you know or would like to. She’s a fine actress with natural charm, and part of her appeal is that she excels at playing characters who seem recognizably real. Kendrick looks like a pal, like someone you went to high school with, although maybe didn’t get stoned with because she comes across as so straight — that is, if you ignore that she can also seem awfully tightly wound, like someone who needs to keep it together, like someone who’s performatively normal.

The sense that there’s more going on under Kendrick’s likable persona works well for both her character and for this movie, a liberation story that tracks Alice as she struggles to break free of her emotionally abusive lover and her paralyzing fears. Like everything else in Alice’s life, her boyfriend, Simon (Charlie Carrick), looks good from the outside. He’s a successful enough artist who’s worried about his upcoming gallery show. He’s nice looking, too, though his behavior — how he looms over Alice, how he scowls, the contempt that creeps into his voice, the insults that he rains down on her — makes him very ugly. And still, she loves him.

The story revs up when Alice takes a trip with two friends from childhood, Sophie (a necessary and strong Wunmi Mosaku) and Tess (an amusingly spiky Kaniehtiio Horn). Together, they set off to the countryside where Sophie’s parents have a waterside house. The plan is to hang out and celebrate Tess’s birthday, and the trip gives Alice an excuse to get away from Simon, who haunts both her sleep and her waking hours. Mostly, though, it allows the movie to get down to its unsurprising business: Cue the warm looks and fond memories, the booze and pinpricks of unease, some face-offs and a reckoning.

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‘alice, darling’ review: anna kendrick transfixes in a chilling portrait of abuse.

The actress plays a young woman coming to terms with the sinister nature of her relationship during a weeklong trip with her friends in this gripping drama from Mary Nighy.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Lovia Gyarkye

Arts & Culture Critic

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The uptight friend, the quirky leading lady, the semi-rebellious college radio DJ who harnesses the melodic potential of red solo cups: These are the roles Anna Kendrick has been relegated to for most of her career, an eclectic mix of largely comedic vehicles. Even after the actress nabbed an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in Up in the Air , she seemed, still, more likely to portray a Beca than a Natalie.

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It’s through Alice’s compulsions — pulling strands of hair, winding them tightly around her index finger, obsessively counting calories — that we see the cruelty of her relationship. Nighy prefers suggestion to explanation. Through brief flashbacks, expertly intercut by editor Gareth C. Scales, we understand that Simon, a mercurial painter, has ingrained himself into Alice’s psyche. He haunts her — so much that when Sophie and Tess invite Alice to spend a weekend at Sophie’s cottage, Alice tells Simon she’s going on a work trip. She rehearses the lie while he fetches coffee and pastries from a cafe, her recitation communicating another level of fear and desperation.

On the drive to the lake house, Alice can’t stop thinking about Simon. The lie gnaws at her each time her phone chimes with a text message from him. His seemingly straightforward wish for her to have a safe flight becomes fodder for her anxieties. Another text asking her if she’s thinking of him feels not only suspect, but sinister. Simon’s frenzied communication style — marked by the frequency, timing and tone of his messages — is calculated and coercive; it keeps him on Alice’s mind even, and especially, when she tries to free herself.

What is clear is that physical distance and time away from Simon help Alice gain perspective about their relationship. But it’s not an easy process. A few days into the trip, Tess and Alice get into a devastating fight that leaves both unsure about their friendship. Sophie, dutiful and maternal, forces a confrontation by hiding Alice’s phone and leaving the women alone to chat. One of the most absorbing parts of Alice, Darling is watching Alice, Sophie and Tess interact with each other throughout the weekend — to witness the frustrating moments of misunderstanding and the triumphant ones of clarity. Kendrick, Mosaku and Horn sustain a natural rapport, which makes investing in their friendship easy. We silently beg Sophie and Tess to see beyond the surface of Alice’s angry eruptions and tendency to isolate. We want Alice to feel safe enough to confide in her companions.

Their strained conversations and tender moments are guided by Owen Pallett’s menacing score. The tense, undulating music is the closest we get to feeling Alice’s constant sense of impending doom. Mike McLaughlin’s unsentimental cinematography helps maintain the plaintive mood.

Without her phone, Alice loosens up, and that makes her talk more about her relationship to Simon. Hearing the anecdotes of the insults, complaints and accusations he throws at her reinforces the thoughts of Tess, Sophie and, by extension, the viewer on the depth of abuse. Alice, Darling is a portrait of contrasts. By steadily constructing an impression of how abuse impacts Alice’s behavior in the first half, Nighy adds an urgent layer to the character’s changes in the second half. Alice indulges in sugary food, takes shots at Tess’ birthday party and rejects her friends’ offer to return her cellphone.

The third act of Alice, Darling is particularly arresting in how it uses the previously built tension. Having not heard from Alice, Simon uses more extreme tactics to see her and try to restore the toxic dynamic. But Sophie and Tess have helped Alice reconnect with herself, fueling her with love and strengthening their bond. This proves to be Alice’s saving grace, giving her the permission and power to imagine a life without Simon.   

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‘Alice, Darling’ Review: A Nervous Anna Kendrick Plays a Woman Trapped in an Abusive Relationship

In an impressive serious turn, the typically radiant 'Pitch Perfect' star shrinks before our eyes, embodying someone so brainwashed by a controlling boyfriend that her besties are forced to intervene.

By Dennis Harvey

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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. But whereas that Elisabeth Moss vehicle was a monster movie given heft by its abusive-boyfriend backstory, director Mary Nighy’s feature debut puts a woman’s difficult exit from a dangerous relationship front and center. This is a quietly powerful drama about psychological manipulation and damage, receiving a year-end qualifying run at the AMC Sunset 5 in West Hollywood on Dec. 30 before expanding to AMC theaters nationwide on Jan. 20. 

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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 gist: how people who really love you will take the risk of telling you who is only pretending as much, to your evident harm. Breaking a destructive codependency is so hard, sometimes others must strike the first severing blow for you.

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. Kaniehtiio Horn and Wunmi Mosaku are both very good as that rare screen thing, BFF figures with palpable inner lives of their own, rather than just being satellites to the protagonist. Carrick is careful not to make Simon a conspicuous 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. 

If the film could have used a stronger sense of catharsis at the end, it is nonetheless all to the good that Nighy and Francis exercise such judicious 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.

Reviewed online, Dec. 29, 2022. In Toronto Film Festival (Gala Presentations). MPA Rating: R. Running time: 90 MIN. 

• Production: (Canada) A Lionsgate release and presentation of a Babe Nations Films, Elevation Pictures production in association with Ontario Creates, Castelletto Films. Producers: Katie Bird Nolan, Lindsay Tapscott, Christina Piovesan, Noah Segal. Executive producers: Sam Tipper-Hale, Anna Kendrick, Laurie May, Adrian Love.
• Crew: Director: Mary Nighy. Screenplay: Alanna Francis. Camera: Mike McLaughlin. Editor: Gareth C. Scales. Music: Owen Pallett.
• With: Anna Kendrick, Kaniehtiio Horn, Charlie Carrick, Wunmi Mosaku.

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Alice, Darling

A young woman trapped in an abusive relationship becomes the unwitting participant in an intervention staged by her two closest friends. A young woman trapped in an abusive relationship becomes the unwitting participant in an intervention staged by her two closest friends. A young woman trapped in an abusive relationship becomes the unwitting participant in an intervention staged by her two closest friends.

• Alanna Francis
• Mark Van de Ven
• Anna Kendrick
• Kaniehtiio Horn
• Charlie Carrick
• 132 User reviews
• 242 Critic reviews
• 65 Metascore
• 1 win & 4 nominations

Top cast 19

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• Trivia Anna Kendrick (Alice) spoke to PEOPLE about the role and is quoted as saying: "I was coming out of a personal experience with emotional abuse and psychological abuse," she shares, recalling the time she first came across the screenplay. "I think my rep sent it to me, because he knew what I'd been dealing with and sent it along. Because he was like, 'This sort of speaks to everything that you've been talking to me about.' " She did not name the boyfriend, though she said it was "recent;" she had ended a public six-year relationship with cinematographer Ben Richardson in 2020 and a relationship of a year or two with Bill Hader in June 2022.
• Goofs There's a sex scene towards the end of the movie between Anna Kendrick's character and her partner. When they're on the floor he clearly has bare legs. Next second right after he stands up he has black trousers on.

Alice : I know this sounds crazy, but sometimes it feels like he can read my mind and there's nowhere left that I can actually be alone.

• Connections Featured in On Cinema: Alice, Darling (2022)
• Soundtracks Klapp Klapp Artist: Hari Dafusia (as Dafusia) written by Periyagaram Sridhar Srihari Courtesy of Sorelle Sound Ltd.

User reviews 132

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• Feb 13, 2023
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• January 20, 2023 (United States)
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• Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Babe Nation Films
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• $4,000,000 (estimated)

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• Runtime 1 hour 29 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Alice, Darling Reviews

This is a film that excels in its aims through only a few choices, as they are intelligent choices that speak volumes while doing seemingly little.

Full Review | Jul 16, 2024

Nighy's film, like words, burrow deep into the soul and linger there far longer than actions ever could.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 5, 2024

…a small but well-composed little film that brings a serious issue (gaslighting) into the sunlight with genuine care…

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 31, 2023

Alice, Darling is anchored by Kendrick’s performance — her practising how to broach the topic of the all-girls trip to Simon, that painful hair pulling and in a million other ways, she reveals Alice’s fear of this man who claims to love her

Full Review | Aug 27, 2023

With tremendous performances and important exploration into the impact abuse can have, Alice, Darling is worth the watch. However, it doesn't quite do enough for the story being told, which deserves a more poignant message.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 24, 2023

Anna Kendrick has played jittery women before, but her performance here is on another level altogether.

Full Review | May 28, 2023

The subplot in the film enriches the plight of its protagonist, excellently portrayed by Anna Kendrick. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 22, 2023

Alice, Darling is machiavellic within its overwhelming intelligence. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 18, 2023

It knocks you out, making you appreciate its rawness and its leading actress. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 18, 2023

Part of a necessary conversation, but only accomplishes so much on its own.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | May 8, 2023

What makes 'Alice, Darling' so engaging is the central theme of women supporting women, and just how powerful friendship and community can be.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 15, 2023

... At times merely functional — a public-service broadcast on how to recognise nonphysical abuse. But Alice's bond with her two best friends is well drawn, and the trio's showdown with the boyfriend has just the right touch of melodrama.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 2, 2023

Anna Kendrick gives one of her very best performances in Mary Nighy's cautious thriller about the control we allow ourselves to be put under in the name of misbegotten comfort and routine.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 16, 2023

Take out all the red herrings in this 89-minute navel gaze, and you’re left with a 90s teen soap subplot featuring wholly unlikeable characters from stem to stern.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 10, 2023

“Alice, Darling” sets out to shine an honest and earnest light on the issue of psychological and emotional abuse....Mary Nighy takes this undeniable potent subject matter and examines it from a distance, yet with remarkable clarity.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 9, 2023

Alice, Darling is a decent enough debut, sincere and heartfelt, shot competently, with an important message that isn’t quite matched by its quality.

Full Review | Feb 6, 2023

The multi-talented Kendrick can't save this well-intended project from being a stultifying bore.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Feb 5, 2023

Alice, Darling has Kendrick giving one of the finest performances in her career.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Feb 3, 2023

Alice, Darling isn’t fun, but it is intensely interesting. And the reason is Anna Kendrick.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 3, 2023

Mary Nighy ramps up the intensity, revealing the paradox of an abused woman who is smart, educated and financially independent but gives in to her abuser. Women in such relationships will relate to Alice, and Kendrick’s unhinged performance nails it.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 3, 2023

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Alice, Darling review: Anna Kendrick draws on her own experiences in a poignant abuse drama

Director mary nighy delicately exposes how internalised and invisible the experience of narcissistic abuse can be, article bookmarked.

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Alice ( Anna Kendrick ) doesn’t see herself as a victim of abuse. In fact, she insists she isn’t. Why then when Alice and her friends (played by Kaniehtiio Horn and Wunmi Mosaku) come across a poster for a missing girl presumed to have been killed by someone close to her, can she not shake off the spectral feeling of connection to this total stranger’s tragedy? After all, she says to her friends and herself, it’s not like her boyfriend (Charlie Carrick) “hurts me or anything”.

What Alice can’t yet see – and what forms the core revelation of the understated but poignant Alice, Darling – is that abuse is not always a single action. It lives and breathes within her relationship with Simon. It is the ever-present, sickly dread that resides in the pit of Alice’s stomach, which dictates that she must cater to Simon’s every whim and sexual advance out of fear of what he may do otherwise.

With Alice, Darling , director Mary Nighy (daughter of actor Bill) delicately exposes how internalised and invisible the experience of narcissistic abuse can be. It’s one that, for Alice, at least, exists almost entirely within the confines of her phone. She stares at it, dead-eyed but fixated. When will the next text from Simon arrive? What will it mean? And what might it secretly demand? Behind locked bathroom doors, Alice compulsively tears her hair out and bundles it into tiny, wiry balls of shame.

Nighy does, occasionally, revert to the standard symbols of sad women. One day, I hope cinema will move on from the image of female protagonists submerged in bathtubs, drowning in their own oppression. Alice, Darling remains striking, however, thanks to how subtly Alanna Francis’s screenplay presents the warning signs of Simon’s behaviour. We see him return from the crowded, lauded opening of his art show only to declare it “a complete f***ing trainwreck”. The unspoken expectation being that Alice will tend his ego and reassure him of his genius.

Kendrick has been candid when speaking about the film. The actor recently revealed that she drew much of her performance from a recent experience of her own . Her affinity with the material is especially evident in how authentically she renders Alice’s dissociative spells. There’s that glazed-over look in her eye and the bodily tension of someone trying to crawl inside of themselves.

It’s particularly refreshing to see how uninterested Kendrick and Nighy are in making Alice saintly. She’s prickly and argumentative when confronted about her relationship. When a friend softly points out her patterns of disordered eating, Alice shovels handfuls of chocolate into her mouth like a stubborn child. The film wouldn’t work, either, without Horn and Mosaku, who find that same space for imperfection in their performances as loving friends who don’t know quite how to help. That is the ultimate, noble-hearted dream behind Alice, Darling – that there’s a friend out there, maybe even an Alice, who will see this film as the wake-up call they need.

Dir: Mary Nighy. Starring: Anna Kendrick, Kaniehtiio Horn, Charlie Carrick, Wunmi Mosaku, Mark Winnick. 15, 89 minutes

‘Alice, Darling’ is in cinemas from 20 January

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‘Alice, Darling’ Review: Anna Kendrick Gives Her Best Performance in Weak Abusive Relationship Drama

Ryan lattanzio, deputy editor, film.

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Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Lionsgate releases the film in limited theaters on Friday, December 29 with expansion to follow on Friday, January 20.

While not quite the taut thriller it’s been billed as, “Alice, Darling” centerpieces Anna Kendrick in her best performance since “Up in the Air” made her a star (and Oscar nominee) in 2009. Kendrick is in every scene of Mary Nighy’s drama about a woman (Alice) whose reality comes crashing down over the course of a girls’ trip to a lakeside cabin: The reality is that she’s in an abusive relationship with a Newcastle artist named Simon (Charlie Carrick), who has a chokehold on her every move and decision, from her whereabouts to what she’s wearing.

“Alice, Darling” runs out of emotional impact despite a lean 89-minute running time that already feels too long, though Kendrick capably carries her character’s emotional arc from self-deception and denial to revelation and escape.

The movie opens with a close-up on Alice’s face, appearing pensive while floating underwater. It’s the sort of vaguely metaphoric shot we know will serve as a bookend, and it eventually does as the movie wraps up. Cut to Alice in the city, meeting her friends Tess (Kaniehtiio Horn of “Letterkenny”) and Sophie (Wunmi Mosaku, “Lovecraft Country”) for dinner. Tess has a birthday looming and so proposes the idea of a cottage trip; it’s immediately obvious that Alice is thrown off by the idea, though we’re unsure why.

Meanwhile, the very dashing waiter keeps making eyes at Alice, and for a minute you think this might be the meet-cute that eventually winds Alice up into a not-so-cute toxic relationship. Not so. Alice mentions Simon, her longtime boyfriend, and his upcoming art show. Tess, an aspiring but far less successful artist herself, is less supportive about Simon. Is it because her friends aren’t in happy about the psychological damage he’s inflicting on Alice? By the end of the film, we discover how very little they knew.

That’s because Alice, as anyone locked in a Stockholm Syndrome-like relationship marked by gaslighting, verbal abuse, and control, is adept at compartmentalizing the person she is with Simon and the one she is out in the world and with her friends. In the restaurant bathroom, she sends a snap of her cleavage to Simon at his behest, signaling just the kind of sway he has over her even in moments where she’s with other people.

Back at home, she finds the waiter’s number on the receipt in her pocket, and not only rips it up, but also washes out the ink before throwing it in the trash, implying that Simon is the kind of guy who probably goes through the garbage looking for evidence like this.

While Alice clearly isn’t in any kind of therapy, and isn’t even honest with herself about what’s going on, she’s found one coping mechanism: trichotillomania. In moments of crisis or anxious unease, she pulls out strands of her hair by the roots, taking no pleasure in the self-destructive act, but using it as you would drugs or alcohol to cope with stress. These are hard-to-watch moments, but Kendrick, ever a game comic actress and rarely given a dramatic leading showcase, effectively conveys her character’s inescapable mental torment. Later, in the shower, Simon sneaks up on her for sex she’s all too willing to comply with despite her unsettled mood.

Everything comes crashing down during the girls’ trip, which Alice has lied to Simon about under the pretense of needing to go on a last-minute business trip. His texts are relentless, and his surveillance makes it difficult for Alice to relax with Tess and Sophie. Meanwhile, in the background, a local girl has gone missing — a red-herring device that might provide some shades to Alice’s character but that ultimately goes nowhere. Alice, rather than catch up with her friends, heads into search parties with the locals.

The movie, from here, precedes to meander until the inevitable, as Simon shows up at the cabin after Alice repeatedly ignores his increasingly menacing missives. Her friendships are already fraying over the course of the short trip, despite some nice sing-song moments to Lisa Loeb and nostalgic reminiscences of better times. When Tess does get to the bone of what’s happening to Alice, it’s gutting: “He wouldn’t love me if he knew how bad I am.”

Kendrick has said that she drew from her own experiences in a toxic relationship to channel Alice, and that shows: It’s a performance of understatement and quiet melancholy, and she rarely goes into full freakout moment outside of the bathrooms she shuts herself in to scream and pull her hair out. “Alice, Darling” makes the case for Kendrick as a dramatic actress, especially when she’s carving out her own material on personal terms (she’s also an executive producer here).

The script from Alanna Francis, however, could use that level of focus. Alice’s journey is a compelling one as she finds her way back to herself, but the movie feels overlong in its second act. While Francis and director Mary Nighy (who’s helmed on HBO’s excellent and underseen “Industry”) surely didn’t want to make a film totally about Alice and Simon’s dynamic (as he gets relatively little screen time), “Alice, Darling” could have benefited from more tension.

Visually the movie lacks in visual imagination, with cinematographer Mike McLaughlin and Nighy mainly directing via coverage shots when not in close-up on Alice, and they don’t contribute to what feels like a true cinematic experience on the big screen. (“Alice, Darling” has the feeling of a decent streaming movie.) Still, Kendrick makes the case for why she belongs in more dramatic roles that allow her to shed her normally peppy usually cheery onscreen persona. We know how good she is, and we’d only love to see more.

“Alice, Darling” premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. It will be released theatrically by Lionsgate at a later date.

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Anna Kendrick might be best known for her comedic and musical roles, but with her latest feature, Alice, Darling , the Oscar-nominated performer reminds viewers she has some seriously impressive dramatic chops. Directed by Mary Nighy, the new film is an intimate, unsettling examination of a woman and the effect her increasingly disturbing relationship has on her life. Considering the plot, it would've been easy for Nighy and screenwriter Alanna Francis to take a more heavy-handed, frightening approach. Luckily, though, Alice, Darling is a respectful and piercing character study that also serves as an excellent showcase for Kendrick's talents.

On the surface, Alice (Kendrick) has it all: A solid job, two best friends to gab with at wine bars, and a sexy, attentive boyfriend, Simon (Charlie Carrick). However, from the way Alice carefully rehearses what she's going to say to Simon to her tendency to compulsively pull her hair out, it soon becomes clear there's more to the story. When Alice's friends Tess (Kaniehtiio Horn) and Sophie (Wunmi Mosaku) invite her on a girls trip to a beach house for the week, Alice's carefully constructed facade of a perfect relationship starts crumbling around her. Soon, it becomes a question of whether Tess and Sophie can save Alice from a situation she's unwilling to acknowledge.

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As Alice, Darling shows, abusive relationships don't always leave visible bruises. The script doesn't show its hand right away, with Francis instead choosing to slowly unravel the horrors of Alice and Simon's relationship. The signs are there in moments where Alice is alone, which means Kendrick must bring the audience into Alice's inner life with minimal dialogue and action. She does it exceptionally well, and it isn't long before the audience is on Alice's side, eagerly waiting for the moment where she escapes Simon's grasp. There's something to be said about a film that puts a spotlight on emotional toxicity. Not many viewers might recognize Simon's tactics as abuse, and Alice, Darling treats the topic with the sensitive touch it requires.

Francis opts to juxtapose Alice's situation with a plot involving a girl who has gone missing in the town where the women go on vacation. When this thread reaches its midpoint, it gets a bit harder to justify. Its inclusion is one of the weaker elements of Alice, Darling . It is perhaps the closest the movie gets to being obvious with the themes it aims to explore. In the end, though, Francis and Nighy manage to stage the plot's resolution in a way that gives a clear, unsettling impact. Additionally, it doesn't take too much away from Alice's journey and the development of the relationships that matter the most here — the ones she has with her friends. Alice, Darling doesn't give quite as much development to Tess and Sophie, but Horn and Mosaku's performances go a long way in fostering the impression of a deep, strong friendship. Mosaku's kind, compassionate Sophie tugs at the heartstrings as she tries to get through to Alice, while Horn gets to dig into some of Tess' pricklier traits as the character pries deeper into Alice's baffling behavior. Alice, Darling paints a wonderfully realistic portrait of female friendship.

Unquestionably, though, Alice, Darling 's high point is Kendrick's performance . Most of the actor's best moments come through when Alice is on her own, though she plays off the other cast members well. Kendrick portrays Alice's delicate and anxious fear with impressive deftness, and in the moments where Alice seems to let loose and reconnect with the person she was before, the audience really feels how special those instances truly are. As the infamous Simon, Carrick portrays his subtle manipulations in a way that elicits deep unease. To his credit, also, he doesn't push his performance into an over-the-top caricature of an emotionally abusive boyfriend. Carrick keeps things on the right edge of normal, thus forcing viewers to truly step into Alice's shoes as they confront the damage he has wrought.

Alice, Darling knows when its story is done, coming to a close after just an hour and a half. Though this leaves its eponymous heroine's future ambiguous, Nighy leaves viewers with a sense of what will happen to her going forward. In a way, the uncertainty of how Alice will move forward is just as powerful as all the elements that came before. Save for some awkwardness with the missing girl subplot, Alice, Darling is a delicate look at a delicate subject, and with Kendrick's devastating performance at its center, it is certain to spark conversation among audiences.

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Alice, Darling opens nationwide on Friday, January 20 exclusively in AMC Theaters. The film is 90 minutes long and rated R for language and some sexual content.

Alice, Darling

Alice, Darling is a drama/thriller that stars Anna Kendrick as Alice, a woman suffering in an emotionally and psychologically abusive relationship. While on vacation with two close friends, she begins to gain the perspective she needs to escape the psychological abuse caused by her boyfriend, Simon. However, Simon's cruel nature rears its head and forces Alice to prepare for his unyielding revenge by steeling her resolve and testing the bonds of her friendship.

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‘Alice, Darling’ Review: Anna Kendrick Shows a New Side of Herself in This Tense Thriller

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When you hear “thriller” used to describe a film, what typically comes to mind? A heist of some sort? Car chase? Murder? Maybe some screaming matches thrown in for good measure? Those are all some quick and easy ways in which thrillers manage to remind the audience that what they are watching is supposed to up the stress level a few notches. Okay, well what about an art gallery opening, a trip to a cottage with friends, or a quick pastry run? It’s pretty safe to say that those three things are not the typical ingredients for a suspenseful, anxiety-inducing narrative, but the top-notch drama Alice, Darling featuring a sensational performance from Anna Kendrick turns these innocuous events into a heart-pounding and heartbreaking watch.

Directed by Mary Nighy (her feature film directorial debut) with an economical and smooth script by Alanna Francis , Alice, Darling is a lot of things. It’s an exploration of friendship, the pressure of societal expectations, and the overwhelming and unspoken power of platonic love. But chiefly, it is an intense dissection of domestic abuse and the many ways its ramifications manifest in its survivors. The Oscar and Tony-nominated Kendrick plays the darling Alice, a type A, hard-working, and very put-together woman who is only smiling on the outside. On the inside, she is harboring intense fear, uncertainty, panic, and shame from the toxic relationship she is in with Simon ( Charlie Carrick ), her verbally and psychologically abusive boyfriend.

The tension starts its slow simmer in the first scene when Alice goes for drinks with her ride-or-dies Tess ( Kaniehtiio Horn ) and Sophie ( Wunmi Mosaku ). This night out with friends is obviously meant to be an escape from everyone’s hectic lives, though we quickly learn that Alice can never truly escape her abusive relationship. On the ride over, she’s mindlessly wrapping her hair tightly around her finger until it turns a deep red, a habit that’s been both a comfort and a source of shame that intensifies along with her blood pressure. A character like Alice who is so mentally distant and preoccupied even when she’s physically present is a difficult one to pull off in a realistic, non-melodramatic way, but Kendrick manages to do so with ease. She turns on her smile and fun personality as soon as she enters the restaurant so as to not “burden” her friends with her brutal reality. Her reaction to the piercing sound of a text message alert from Simon is a subtle blend of fear and embarrassment. Alice’s body language and stillness speak volumes about what she is going through, and as the dynamics evolve and the environment and circumstances change, so does she.

Alice’s anxiety skyrockets when Tess and Sophie propose their plan for a remote getaway at Sophie’s cottage to celebrate Tess’s birthday. Her mind immediately starts to spin as she runs through possible excuses she can tell Simon, who will not be happy that she is leaving him for so long (or at all). The dysfunction of their relationship is on full display when the couple goes for a simple walk. On the surface, their dialogue and interactions are benign. Between the way the scene is shot and the way Kendrick and Carrick smartly approach it, it feels very much like it was pulled from the sweet spot of a rom-com when the couple is still lingering in the honeymoon phase. But in a matter of seconds, it becomes one of the most difficult scenes to digest. While Simon is picking up something in the pastry shop, Alice enters a trance-like state and rehearses with varying inflections the different ways she can casually broach the subject of her trip. This is a small but devastating peek into her world that locks the tone in place.

RELATED: Anna Kendrick on 'Alice, Darling' and the Bad Rumors Swirling About Actors

While the entire film exudes authenticity, Alice’s relationship with Tess and Sophie is especially impressive. The film features one of the most authentic depictions of friendship, never leaning into tropes or sacrificing character distinctness for the sake of the plot. Sophie and Tess don’t fit into clichéd “friend” stereotype boxes, a testament to Alanna Francis’ ability to craft and convey a three-way dynamic that feels lived in and beat up, like your favorite pair of shoes that have been through it all. This makes them keenly aware of the tiniest change in each other's behavior, a clear indicator of how well they know each other. Their conversations over drinks reference memories from their long history, naturally cementing their chemistry as friends and as actors. Sometimes, it’s simply Alice’s unsettled disposition that radiates off of her as she sits on the edge of the hot tub—purposely away from the fun—that can define the scene.

This film takes a lot of bold storytelling risks that pay off and complement each other in unexpected ways. What’s particularly interesting is how the most tension actually comes from Alice’s time with Tess and Sophie rather than Simon. It’s not necessarily that we are waiting for Simon to freak out (even though he is ever-present, he’s not as physically present on screen as one might assume), but we are waiting to see how Tess and Sophie react to Alice’s energy. For a significant portion of the film, the friends are in the dark about how bad (if at all) Alice’s relationship is, leading them to think that she isn’t into the trip because she’s grown apart from them. There are several times at the cottage when heaps of tension and suspense seep out, like when Sophie and Alice make cinnamon rolls and when Tess drags a reluctant Alice out to paddleboard. This makes any friction between Alice and her friends particularly saddening, as we the audience know the real reasons for her change in behavior. It’s clear that Alice not only can’t relax but doesn’t feel like she deserves to.

Visually, the film is stunning, in location and in style. The cutaway shots to the lived-in cottage and the way that Nighy isn’t afraid to take her time and observe the friends’ low-key bonding activities create a sense of familiarity and really capture the desired mood. As alluded to before, one-on-one interactions with Alice and Simon are used sparingly and strategically. Though this might feel strange at times, that's kind of the point of the film, as it reminds people that the anxiety doesn’t disappear when she’s away from him. If anything, it gets worse. Horn and Mosaku's characters, however, play inspiring and pivotal roles in Alice's efforts to remember who she truly is.

Alice, Darling is a bold and powerful step forward in Anna Kendrick’s career that allows her to really show off the range we knew she had, but maybe hasn’t had a chance to fully explore yet. This intimate, tonally-challenging film feels like the perfect precursor to Kendrick’s upcoming directorial debut with the crime drama The Dating Game , in which she also stars. Alice, Darling is the type of film that will stick with you after the credits roll. And maybe inspire you to make your friend a sandwich.

Rating : B+

Alice, Darling is now playing exclusively in AMC Theaters.

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Review: Anna Kendrick explores codependent damage in ‘Alice, Darling’

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In “ Alice, Darling ,” the titular protagonist’s friends are a little worried. As the three of them embark on a weeklong trip, peacemaking Sophie ( Wunmi Mosaku ) has her eye on Alice ( Anna Kendrick ), later describing her eating habits as “disordered.” Birthday girl Tess ( Kaniehtiio Horn ), a struggling artist, has been drifting apart from Alice. In the eyes of her friends, Alice’s personality has started to fade. What they don’t know is she’s frequently on the verge of a panic attack and can be set off by the mere thought of displeasing boyfriend Simon (Charlie Carrick).

She and Simon are in an unhealthy, codependent relationship characterized by him controlling her with frequent check-ins and the threat of disapproval. We don’t delve into the details. We do know any abuse is emotional rather than physical, often in the form of withering criticism from an older (by about eight years), successful man on the high end of an imbalanced relationship dynamic. Beyond that, Simon simply comes across as a needy, possessive-obsessive jerk. The movie doesn’t try to explain more deeply than that, answering the inevitable questions by having Alice overhear strangers incredulously wondering about a girl in a harmful circumstance: “Why would she put herself in that situation?” You see in her eyes: They wouldn’t understand. But I do.

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The film doesn’t trace who Alice used to be or how she got here. It skips every opportunity to show us, or to let us hear her tell her side (it even skips the scene where she does so for her friends); it’s deliberately vague in a way that is dramatically unhelpful. But then, it’s less about that relationship than the possibility of her recovery beginning. The girls’ trip turns into a kind of unintended intervention, even a detox, especially once she’s deprived of her phone and forced to go cold turkey.

Threaded through is a subplot of a local girl gone missing; it’s a metaphor for Alice on multiple levels. What part or parts of her have disappeared, has she suppressed or lost, in service of her toxic relationship? Seeing the townspeople gathered in search parties likely reminds her there are people who want to help her. She identifies with the lost girl.

‘I’m the evidence’: Anna Kendrick opens up about the abuse that shaped her new film

In ‘Alice, Darling,’ the actor and producer drew on her own emotionally abusive relationship to render the experience with remarkable fidelity.

Dec. 29, 2022

At the same time, actor identifies with role: Kendrick has been candid about what the story means to her personally, saying she had emerged from an experience not unlike Alice’s not long before the script came to her. Her performance convincingly conveys the symptoms; her shortness of breath, subtle shrinking, facial fragility all ring true. As her friends, Mosaku and Horn have distinct personalities and relationships; one senses a history among the three, without which the whole enterprise would sink.

First-time director Mary Nighy (daughter of storied actor Bill ) spends time with her characters, letting those dynamics emerge. She lets the camera drink in the differences between their big-city home environs and the placidity of their woody, lakeside getaway. Despite the change in locale, of course, the rot persists: Even in this idyll, there’s the specter of the missing girl, just as beneath the happy front Alice presents, supports are giving way. The proceedings can feel heavy, as can the metaphors — hopefully this and “ Nanny ” will back filmmakers off symbolic water for a while — but Nighy gets the most important part, the relationships, right.

“Alice, Darling” may be harmed in the public sphere by a disingenuous promotional campaign touting it as a “taut thriller” and threatening “shattering vengeance” by the boyfriend. Apart from one sequence tied to the missing girl and the persistent stress of witnessing how damaged Alice is, the actual experience of the film is not characterized by “thriller” elements. This isn’t “ Enough ” or “ Sleeping With the Enemy ” and shouldn’t be sold as such. “Alice, Darling” is a slow-developing drama about a woman traumatized by an abusive, codependent relationship. Ultimately, it’s about the bonds of sisterhood and how those who know you best and love you most can help you heal, or at least start you on that path. Its vagueness serves almost as a Rorschach test. How effective it is as a drama may depend on your perspective.

'Alice, Darling'

Rated: R for language and some sexual content Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Playing: Exclusive one-week theatrical engagement at the AMC Sunset 5 in West Hollywood beginning Dec. 30 before a theatrical run at AMC theaters Jan. 20.

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Alice, Darling Review

20 Jan 2023

Alice, Darling

This may be her debut, but director Mary Nighy knows how to build tension. The sight of Anna Kendrick ’s Alice twisting her hair so tightly around her finger that she cuts off her circulation makes it clear, in the opening moments of this film, that something is deeply wrong in her life. But what that something is, and how it affects her, only emerges gradually. The result is far more powerful than many showier efforts on the same subject.

This is a slow-burning drama, almost a thriller, anchored by a faultless performance from Anna Kendrick.

From the outside, Alice’s life looks good. She lives in a luxurious city centre apartment, dresses well and has a rising star artist boyfriend in Simon ( Charlie Carrick ). But as she goes out for drinks with her friends Sophie ( Wunmi Mosaku ) and Tess (Kaniehtiio Horn) she lets her guard down just a little, and we get the first hints that all is not well in her relationship. When she frantically tries to destroy a note slipped into her pocket by a handsome waiter, it’s clear that Alice and Simon are not quite the dream couple they try to appear. During a week away with the girls, the cracks begin to widen between the real Alice and the life she’s been living under Simon’s controlling shadow.

The insidious truth of Alice’s situation only gradually becomes clear to her, and it’s similarly parcelled out to the viewer as the camera trails her in intimate close-up as she tries to keep Simon happy. This is a slow-burning drama, almost a thriller, anchored by a faultless performance from Kendrick and punctuated by a quietly monstrous turn from Carrick, as a man who thinks he’s entirely reasonable. But it’s ultimately the warmth of Mosaku and Horn that lingers in the mind, as the women who wake Alice up and stand with her against the omnipresent spectre of male violence.

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Alice, darling.

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Common Sense Media Review

Friendship shines in mature toxic relationship thriller.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Alice, Darling is a psychological thriller starring Anna Kendrick as a woman named Alice who's wrestling internally with her romantic relationship, which is taking a toll. She's on edge, self-harming when things get too stressful. The story explores coercion, emotional manipulation,…

Why Age 15+?

Strong language includes "bulls--t," "c--t," and several uses of "f--k."

Plot revolves around a couple who live together. Sex scenes include bare shoulde

Drinking throughout, including a scene where characters bond by getting drunk (t

A weapon is used to startle but not to harm. Viewers are unsure of a character's

Any Positive Content?

Main characters and director are all women. Alice's best friends, who are depict

Sophie and Tess are ride-or-die besties who will do anything for their childhood

If you can't trust your gut, trust your friends.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Plot revolves around a couple who live together. Sex scenes include bare shoulders, thrusting, rubbing, kissing, moaning. Sexting photos of cleavage. Characters are seen showering together. Conversations about orgasms, the ethics of having sex dreams. Jokes about "d--k pics."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Drinking throughout, including a scene where characters bond by getting drunk (they're hung over the next day). Negative character smokes. Joke about cocaine.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

A weapon is used to startle but not to harm. Viewers are unsure of a character's safety. A subplot revolves around the search for a missing teen. Psychological abuse. A character self-harms.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Diverse Representations

Main characters and director are all women. Alice's best friends, who are depicted positively, are Black (Wunmi Mosaku) and Indigenous (Kaniehtiio Horn) and offer body type diversity.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Role Models

Sophie and Tess are ride-or-die besties who will do anything for their childhood friend, Alice. Sophie is respectful, while Tess is blunt and an advocate for herself. They're both comfortable in their own skin, which is a strong contrast to Alice herself.

Positive Messages

Parents need to know that Alice, Darling is a psychological thriller starring Anna Kendrick as a woman named Alice who's wrestling internally with her romantic relationship, which is taking a toll. She's on edge, self-harming when things get too stressful. The story explores coercion, emotional manipulation, and control. Even more, it's about love -- and here that means the love of good friends who won't let go, even when they're being pushed away. There's a subplot about a missing girl in the vacation town that Alice and her friends are visiting. A couple of sex scenes show bare shoulders, thrusting, rubbing, kissing, and moaning. Sexual content also includes sexting photos of cleavage. Adult characters drink a lot and joke about sex, orgasms, and cocaine. A negative character smokes. Strong language includes "f--k," "c--t," and "d--k." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (2)
• Kids say (1)

Based on 2 parent reviews

Alice, Darling': A Distorted Mirror to Society

What's the story.

In ALICE, DARLING, Alice's ( Anna Kendrick ) life revolves around her adoring boyfriend, Simon ( Charlie Carrick ). But during an off-the-grid girls' retreat with her two best friends, Sophie ( Wunmi Mosaku ) and Tess (Kaniehtiio Horn), Alice starts to see that her relationship may not be as perfect as she wants to believe.

Is It Any Good?

Written by Alanna Francis, this is a film that has potential to save lives -- or at least, save some from years of trauma. Because while some viewers may experience first-time feature director Mary Nighy's quiet, lakeshore cabin film as a lulling, non-thrilling thriller, others may recognize their own relationship on the screen in Alice, Darling , and it could be a five-alarm wake-up call.

Kendrick has shared that she'd recently escaped a similar situation when she decided to star in and executive-produce this drama, and her lived experience fuels a believable performance. Alice is a woman in crisis who isn't fully aware of it. She knows that Simon, a successful artist, loves her, and she loves him. Yet she also knows that something isn't right -- and it's gnawing at her. He's not physically abusive, although he does get frustrated with her -- but that's normal, right? Yet Alice's every breath is full of nervous anxiety. And every time Simon's name is mentioned, Alice's friends exchange a "look." Nighy doesn't give viewers the full scope of Simon, just glimpses, leaving viewers to wonder whether Simon actually is a bad boyfriend. Like a lake, the evidence is murky, but, as the story gets closer to the surface, things become clearer. Older teens may have enough life experience to truly understand what's going on with Alice and tuck her into a pocket of their mind, where she can stay until or unless they find themselves or a friend in similar circumstances.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the idea of trusting your gut instinct. How do viewers see Alice's body and mind telling her something is wrong, even if she can't find the reason?

Discuss how the filmmakers choose to keep it unclear whether Simon is a bad guy or a good guy. How do you think Simon might tell this story to his friends? What does that tell you about getting just one side of any story?

Are drinking and smoking glamorized here? Are there realistic consequences? Why does that matter?

Do you consider Alice an unreliable narrator? What does that mean? What is "gaslighting," and does it apply here?

Do Alice and her friends look like friend groups you might see in real life? Why is diverse representation in the media important?

Movie Details

• In theaters : December 30, 2022
• On DVD or streaming : February 10, 2023
• Cast : Anna Kendrick , Wunmi Mosaku , Kaniehtiio Horn
• Director : Mary Nighy
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors, Indigenous actors
• Studio : Lionsgate
• Genre : Thriller
• Topics : Friendship
• Run time : 90 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : language and some sexual content
• Last updated : August 25, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Alice , Darling follows an abuse victim as she comes to terms with the end of her relationship. The script was written by  Alanna Francis and directed by Mary Nighy . The film stars Anna Kendrick , Kaniehtiio Horn, Wunmi Mosaku and Charlie Carrick.

Alice (Kendrick) has two besties, Tess (Horn) and Sophie (Mosaku). They are a tight trifecta, each at different points in their lives and careers. She is the only one with a boyfriend, Simon (Carrick). When the three friends get together, Alice dissociates because she’s often thinking about her boyfriend, but not in a loving way — more in a “he occupies my mind by force, and it depresses me.” You can tell this woman is dealing with some serious psychological abuse from her partner. She’s rail-thin as he encourages her disordered eating, has trichotillomania (the urge to pull out hair), and cries at the drop of a hat, and her friends are beginning to notice.

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The trio go on a weeklong vacation trip, and at first Alice is apprehensive, and eventually agrees to go after lying to Simon about it. He’s been encouraging her to get rid of her friends. That thought is sinking deep into her psyche to the point she’s subconsciously destroying her relationships. To get Alice to live in the moment, Tess takes away her phone. Not having to answer her boyfriend’s constant text messages opens a floodgate of feelings, and she uses this vacation to begin recovering from trauma.

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The manipulation, deception and gaslighting in Alice, Darling are off the charts. Simon is obsessive to the point where he wouldn’t let his girlfriend be gone for a week without interrupting her hangout plans and making everyone uncomfortable. Nighy’s direction succinctly captures those type of stilted moments. The director gets up close and personal to show the viewer how he abuses her in real-time and it is jarring: he rotates between insulting her and love-bombing her in under 60 seconds. That type of thing messes with your head.

Kendrick, Horn and Mosaku are an electric trio. They bounce off of one another effortlessly, sharing a three-dimensional bond that reverberates throughout the film. It leaps off the screen.

Alice, Darling is all about character and examining interior thought and how that manifests outward when negative and harmful thoughts are kept inside. These ideas turn on you, making you think what’s happening is your fault. The point of Francis’ script wasn’t to create a film about victims and abusers — it’s about addressing your fears and utilizing your support system to do so. Not all abuse shows physical bruises or scars. Some things just hurt mentally.

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Home » Endings Explained

Alice, Darling Ending Explained – what happens to Alice and Simon?

We discuss the ending of the 2022 film Alice, Darling, which will contain significant spoilers and plot points.

The intense psychological drama Alice, Darling , starring Anna Kendrick and Charlie Carrick , follows the troubled relationship between Simon and Alice and Alice’s journey to rediscovering herself and becoming aware of the abuse she is undergoing.

After spending time with her closest friends at a remote birthday celebration, Alice starts to see what has been happening to her due to the nature of her relationship with Simon, but what exactly does happen to the couple?

There is also that subplot that involves the disappearance of Andrea Evans. What was that all about? Here is our interpretation and explanation of the oddly divisive ending to Alice, Darling .

Alice, Darling Ending Explained

By the end of Alice, Darling , we have a relatively clear perspective on the toxic relationship between Alice and Simon. The narcissistic Simon has been manipulating Alice and making sure that he is in control of everything she does.

Alice has received some tough love from her closest friends, who manage to get her to open up and talk about what is really happening in her relationship. After taking part in a search for the missing girl Andrea Evans, it seems that Alice’s story and Andrea’s disappearance are running parallel. Eventually, Alice stops making contact with Simon, and this loss of control of Alice forces Simon to drive to find her and her friends, leading to the film’s conclusion.

What happens when Simon arrives?

When Simon arrives, Alice seems to fall back under his spell, but when she decides to leave with him, her friends Sophie and Tess take exception, feeling that Alice is being once again psychologically manipulated by him. Sophie smashes the rear windscreen of the car the couple is in, and this action seems to make Alice suddenly come back to her senses.

She ignores Simon as he tries to make her leave again. Eventually, he admits defeat and throws Alice’s luggage out of the car, leaving in a mild rage over the events.

Why is Alice in the water?

The final scene shows Alice entering the water, a scene that seems to bookend the film, as we see a similar shot at the start. However, in the end scene, we see her breaking upwards through the surface. It seems to be metaphorically showing us that Alice has finally escaped from the prison that Simon held her in.

Alice was drowning in the same way while with Simon, but the intervention of her friends seems to have given Alice the strength to break free from “the water” and be able to breathe again, showing us that Alice is now back in control of her own life, not underwater, or hidden, alone and without voice.

What happened to Andrea Evans Alice, Darling?

Andrea Evans, the girl that has gone missing, is the subplot in the film and seems to mirror Alice, who also lost herself due to her relationship with Simon.

Alice is even seen taking part in a search for Andrea, but perhaps she is really looking for herself, who she believes has also been lost.

The subplot also shows us the relevance it has to Simon. He once again disrupts the narrative and shows the group a newspaper that reveals that Andrea is dead and they have found her body. This is representative of Simon interfering and taking control of a situation as if he wants to be the center of attention. Alice wants to find Andrea, but Simon cements the fact that she never will, leaving Alice even more despondent.

The audience is never given any real solution or back story for Andrea, and we never find out what really happened to her.

What did you think of the ending of the 2023 film Alice, Darling? Comment below.

Article by Louie Fecou

Louie Fecou joined the Ready Steady Cut writing team back in August 2018 as an Entertainment Writer and, since then, has published over 1,000 articles for the site. Louie has proven experience in various publications, print and online. To kickstart his journalism career, in 2013, he was a columnist and writer for The Irvine Herald Newspaper.

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Alice, Darling (United States/Canada, 2022)

A take-notice performance from Anna Kendrick (who drops the f-bomb more times than in all of her previous roles combined) can’t hide how threadbare and ultimately unsatisfying the narrative of Alice, Darling is. Written without much concern for logic and coherence, the movie wavers between being a drama and a thriller and, as is too often the case in situations like these, doesn’t work as either. And, although the movie addresses a serious subject (non-physical abuse), it fails to do so in a manner that is compelling or credible. The ending is artificial, a for-the-masses resolution grafted onto a film that deserves something grittier and more believable. To give them credit, at least director Mary (daughter of Bill) Nighy and screenwriter Alanna Francis don’t go the Fatal Attraction route, although a case could be made that such a trajectory would have at least been more honest.

Alice, Darling focuses on a girls-only escape weekend reuniting the childhood trio of Alice (Anna Kendrick), Tess (Kaniehiio Horn), and Sophie (Wunmi Mosaku). Once inseparable, the three have grown apart over the years and this occasion – Tess’ birthday – gives them an opportunity to reconnect by spending a week living in a secluded lake house. While Tess and Sophie successfully leave their real-world concerns behind, Alice is having trouble in that regard. After lying to her controlling boyfriend, Simon (Charlie Carrick), about her whereabouts, she finds herself caught between a paralyzing need to flee back to him and a desire to be as far away from him as possible. When they discover how dire Alice’s situation is, Tess and Sophie stage an intervention of sorts but, as Alice appears on the verge of breaking the unhealthy relationship, Simon shows up.

Lionsgate is giving Alice, Darling a limited last-weekend-of-the-year release in order to make Kendrick eligible for awards consideration. As good as she is in the role, it’s hard to see her being placed in the same company as Cate Blanchett and Danielle Deadwyler. That’s in part because her performance isn’t on quite the same level and in part because the overall production is forgettable. Although Kendrick is the best thing about the movie, her contribution doesn’t elevate Alice, Darling to better than a streaming pick.

Comments Add Comment

• Fight Club (1999)
• In the Company of Men (1997)
• Apollo 13 (1995)
• Cosmopolis (2012)
• Cruel Intentions (1999)
• Bad Lieutenant (1993)
• Up in the Air (2009)
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
• End of Watch (2012)
• Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)
• Twilight: New Moon (2009)
• Pitch Perfect (2012)
• (There are no more better movies of Kaniehiio Horn)
• (There are no more worst movies of Kaniehiio Horn)
• (There are no more better movies of Wunmi Mosaku)
• (There are no more worst movies of Wunmi Mosaku)

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Strange Darling Movie Review: Masterfully subverts slasher genre conventions

Strange darling ( 4 / 5).

Colour red permeates every single frame of  Strange Darling , actor-director JT Mollner's subversive new thriller that explores the potential perils of unchecked sexual desires and impulses in the form of a serial killer film. It is in everything, from the title cards to a Ford Pinto car to the clothing of the leads to the cocaine-snorting straw that one of them uses. It is sometimes deceptive, other times a foreboding sign of the terror and bloodshed that lie ahead in the story, and at other times a symbol of unhinged, passionate love.

Director: JT Mollner

Cast: Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Ed Begley Jr, Barbara Hershey

The film begins with a long piece of text conveying that it chronicles the last few crimes of a serial killer. Then, it cuts to the image of a woman running away from something or someone dangerous. Soon, you see the same woman in the red Pinto car trying to evade a man carrying a gun and baying for her blood. The intensity of the grotesque scene paves the way to a different chapter in their lives, a calmer one where they have a conversation that effectively serves as foreplay to a one-night stand. The conversation alludes to the risks that a woman takes whenever she agrees to have sex with a stranger. The serene conversation stops abruptly with a shift in timeline, with the same man and woman playing cat and mouse, so to speak. Mollner continues the nonlinear narrative style until the intermission, which is where the film starts to peel off its layers. The nonlinear approach adds a sense of intrigue to the goings-on and sets the rest of the film up nicely, cueing us in on a tantalising thriller with deeper undertones than your average slasher film.

The highlights of  Strange Darling  are the performances of its two leads, the contrasting use of soothing music amid all the violence that unfolds on screen, and actor-cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi’s visuals. The contrast between the music and violent acts forces you to confront the complexities of human desire and the consequences of uncontrolled impulses. Ribisi’s cinematography depicts the delirious day in the life of a serial killer vividly on screen while weaving in an element of perspective with his different POV shots. Take the shots of the same woman running away at two different phases of the film. The first time it occurs, you sense that she is in danger and merely running away from the perpetrator. And the second shot suggests that she is running away not just from someone but from life itself. Ribisi’s framing creates delirium, tension, and movement that often makes  Strange Darling  a spellbinding film to watch. The choice of soothing music, with the odd guitar riffs, adds weather to the characters and forces us to introspect their predicaments, whereas Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner’s performances add soul to the story. Fitzgerald’s eyes convey the deep-seated sense of pain in her character that potentially stems from longtime trauma and suffering. The actor delivers a performance that is as physical as one that brims with the quiet strength of a true fighter. To quote William Congreve, she is “a woman scorned,” who slowly unleashes her vengeful “fury”. The repeated use of the song ' Love Hurts ' marinates in your head long enough and lends an additional dimension to the Fitzgerald character. On the other hand, Gallner brings out the twisted motivations, dark desires, and unsettling charm of his character with the relative ease of a true thespian. His ability to oscillate between menacing and vulnerable makes the character compelling.

The film showcases the talents of both actors in breakout performances. It also has other characters, some of whom make an impact despite the fleeting nature of their appearances. For example, a so-called “mountain woman” with a penchant to fire at the first sign of danger. Yet the biggest pleasure of  Strange Darling  is watching Gallner and Fitzgerald’s characters teem with sexual tension, even as Ribisi’s cinematography adds to the eroticism while underscoring the film’s underlying themes. The framing is especially evocative in a hotel room scene where the two hook up, with the red hues serving as a symbol of love and lust, foreshadowing the violent deeds that will ensue.