Alice, Darling (2022)

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.