Alice, Darling

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I didn't know how to write all the thoughts and feelings this movie made me feel. I also thought for a long time whether it is really worth writing everything, because the whole review will not be about the movie, but about the theme of this movie. I don't want to talk about this movie from a technical point of view, because I don't think it's the most important thing in this case. Yes, I think the movie is really good, but that's probably because I found so many similarities in it and I realized that I wasn't the only one who suffered from this kind of relationship. In short, the film is about a young woman trapped in an abusive relationship, and I think this is a very important topic to talk about, because an abusive relationship is very traumatic for people and their lives. There are many people in this world who are now in toxic relationships, and there are also many people who have been in this type of relationship before. A very important point is that the film is very realistic. Of course, each person's case is different, but the whole point is abusive relationships and how being in them affects people's inner world and mental health. People feel trapped, like they have no other choice, they think that their partner is treating them badly out of love. For such people, it seems that this is how love should be, after all, just like in the movie, Simon said to Alice: "It's you and me. It's just us." Being in such a relationship is like losing yourself, at least in my opinion, the motif of the missing girl in the film shows exactly that. At that time you are absolutely addicted, if you go somewhere you feel guilty for not being with a partner, if you are having fun you feel guilty again for not being with a partner. When the partners of an abusive relationship are already completely attached to their victim, it becomes more and more difficult to escape from such a relationship. But that's not the case, there is a way out of all these horrible things, whoever is reading this right now and is in a relationship like this, there is a way out. There will always be people around you in difficult times who really love and want to help. In the case of the film, it was Alice's friends who helped her escape from an abusive relationship. Although at first it seems that no one understands you, that everyone else is your enemy, but the truth is completely different. Alice says: "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." And this is absolutely true, because people in such relationships lose themselves, forget what they really are, they can't even think logically anymore. Also, hair pulling is a very real experience caused by a very high level of stress. In fact, the movie looked so familiar that it was hard to watch. I really highly recommend this movie because it does an excellent job of revealing the main idea and raising a very important issue. Some viewers may find it difficult to watch, but the film is definitely worth watching.

source: Alice, Darling

source: Alice, Darling

This was truly awful. I really wanted to like it because I like Anna Kendrick a lot. So I saw already that it was not getting great reviews but thought I would give it a chance with a 5.6 out of 10. So I asked my girlfriend if she wanted to watch a crappy thriller and she was like yeah I put it on it can't be that bad. After 20 minutes I said it was pretty slow and she told me I should give it more of a chance. We continued watching through the end, and it literally had no plot. I can't believe this is even considered a thriller. It was like watching someone's day in the life of log. Terrible acting terrible script.

Alice, Darling is a new drama thriller directed by Mary Nighy. This is the first movie she has directed and has only directed some episodes of different TV series before this. In the film, Alice (Anna Kendrick) goes away with her friends Sophie (Wunmi Mosaku) and Tess (Kaniehtiio Horn) for Tess's birthday. She lies to her partner Simon (Charlie Carrick) about this. She has an uneasy relationship with Simon, in which Simon always dominantly makes the decisions for them. This lie turns Alice's time with her friends from a fun girls' trip into a precarious one. For example, Alice begins to wonder if she should go public with her problems to her friends. This can only completely ruin the fun. Besides the fact that this is only the first film that Mary Nighy has directed, this is also only the second film for which writers Alanna Francis and Mark Van de Ven have written the story. Because of the starting sides of both of them, they keep this film a bit on the simple side. Unfortunately, the message about someone who is in an uncomfortable relationship with a partner who makes all the choices is not very strong. With this film they also take their time to make it clear to you as a viewer what exactly this film is about. For example, in the beginning you first have to try to guess what kind of film you are going to see. The storytelling of the film is unfortunately a bit on the rushed side, so the film sometimes jumps quickly from scene to scene, to show some different moments. As a result, the story can sometimes remain a bit difficult to follow and the film is sometimes filled with unnecessary scenes, which have little or no value for the final ending. It also takes a while before you clearly learn about the different relationships between all the characters. As a result, the acting in the beginning of the film unfortunately does not come across very well at first. Fortunately, this changes later in the film and most actors know how to act better and more clearly. You just keep missing a clearer history of the characters, to really understand them. Due to the lack of background information and some lack of other details, the film sometimes comes across as too rushed or simple. As a viewer, this makes you wonder why the characters can't just talk about each other's problems as friends. Anna Kendrick looks good in the lead role, but this is not her best acting. She has done better acting in her other films. Kaniehtiio is also more of a TV actress and knows how to do nice acting, but does not do anything special with her role. Wunmi Mosaku plays more like the backbone of the girlfriend group, trying to balance everything between everyone. Charlie Carrick unfortunately comes forward a bit too exaggerated in his role, so that the film loses some of its credibility.

I like the concept here of the vast difference between actual love and narcissistic control. Narcissistic personality disorder is when someone needs to control and manipulate other people to feel like they're human. They're basically lacking a soul and feed of others in a nutshell. This film tries to portray this subtle abuse by showing mostly the abused victim and not the actual abuse so most of the film is the lead female being stuck in a relationship and it just doesn't do much else. She's with her friends and not in the actual abuse for most the screen time. The ending is pretty good, but the slow first hour or so really drags. I would have like to have seen more of what created her abuse symptoms and also how she was before meeting her Narc boyfriend. Overall the acting is good, but the plot is too slow for most audiences and didn't really progress. It also is dealing with very subtle things in a very subtle way as well so it misses the mark on being an effective drama or thriller and is more just a character study. 5/10.

Anna Kendrick really does give a career-best performance as Alice, a woman in turmoil and denial over her emotionally abusive relationship. Really, the whole cast is incredible, and the highlight of this film is the interactions between the three friends as they peel back the layers of Alice's abuse. Each of the three friends has a distinct personality, clearly different set of life experience, and manner of communication. It makes it easy to connect with them immediately and understand their perspectives and sympathise with their plights as they try to both evade and help each other. The film also does a terrific job of exploring the psychology of Alice. It can be easy to dismiss people who are being abused because it's hard to understand why they don't just leave the relationship. But it's so understandable here; Alice has become so emotionally dependent upon her boyfriend who appears kind and supportive on the surface but is so needy and manipulative in his speech that he's become an emotional leech without her realising it. I loved how the film didn't make Simon out to be straight-up evil and sadistic. He's an otherwise normal guy who doesn't think anything he's doing is wrong or abnormal, but is in desperate need of a reality check. It's complex and believable. What didn't work for me is that this movie simultaneous feels too short and too long. The climax is emotionally resonant and satisfying in its own right, but it seemingly leaves multiple plot threads dangling that retrospectively feel like they were just there to kill time and didn't contribute much of meaning to the story or themes. A multitude of scenes should have either been cut or expanded upon to give more weight to Alice's precarious situation. As it is, the movie feels slow because of all the fat in the script that wasn't capitalised on. Even so, the performances and dialogue are often so compelling and satisfyingly intricate that they alone make the film worth a watch. It's a thoroughly impressive directorial debut.