"Alice, Darling" tells a story of a woman stuck in a manipulative and controlling relationship. However, what makes this take special is how subtle and understated this relationship is compared to the typical wife beater you might see in many other media. And even though I think it fails ultimately as a good film, I believe it still has value for educational reasons and may even be eye-opening to some people going through similar relationships, though; I can't judge that with full confidence because I am by no means an expert. But I can try to give you an Idea on the quality of the film as a whole.
The plot is fairly simple at first glance. Alice, Tess and Sophie take a trip to a cottage for Tess's Birthday. However, Alice lies to her Partner and says that she's going on a business trip for reasons not yet clear.
The movie kind of just drags on from there on out. They get to the cottage and they argue a lot.
The intrigue comes from Alice's reactions to any sort of message or reference to her boyfriend. These are just brief scenes, but Anna Kendrick plays them to perfection, making every panic attack painfully realistic and depressing to watch.
The cast overall is very strong in my opinion, but like I mentioned before, Alice and her friends don't really do all that much besides argue. It definitely serves its purpose in painting her boyfriend (Simon) to be a manipulative partner, but as a viewer, seeing these characters go at each other's throats is just mind-numbingly annoying.
Even after some of the tension loosens between the friends, the mood doesn't really lift all that much because it is all shot in the most distant and cold manner. Essentially, leaving all the positive emotion the characters are supposedly feeling lost to the audience. Maybe it's the lack of vibrant colors or the overindulgent cinematography, but it just didn't resonate with me the way it was meant to.
The strongest parts are definitely in direct confrontation with the abusive manner of Alice's relationship. For instance, in one scene, Alice is explaining how her boyfriend would shame her for eating chips in the most calm and oblivious manner while the smiles melt from her friends faces.
It is followed by another strong scene where her boyfriend comes to the cottage after finding out she lied about the business trip. I think this is one of the scenes that perfectly demonstrate the kind of relationship they are really in. He knows she is out having fun with her friends, but instead of leaving her be, he uses excuses to rain on their parade. Turning the lodge from a place where Alice was starting to feel comfortable, into another place where she is scared to do anything wrong.
One of the reasons he gives for his unannounced visit is the missing girl who was found dead. This is where the movie left me clueless to be completely honest. I can not for the life of me figure out what the significance of the missing girl is. It becomes a semi obsession of Alice throughout the film, but the connection to her is not explained, nor why she spends large parts of the movie looking for her. She does find a potential clue to the case and Simon shuts her down on it, but I don't believe they spent that much time on that subplot just for that one scene. I would stamp it out as my ignorance or unwillingness to dig for the deeper meaning, but truthfully, it isn't exactly an intriguing mystery that I have any incentive to care about.
The climax of the movie is pretty fitting, I think. It doesn't really wrap up neatly, but it doesn't need to. As Simon decides to take Alice back home, Sophie smashes in the rearview window of his car, resulting in a stare down between him and the girls. Ultimately, he decides to leave. But how does it continue when she has to leave the cottage and get back to life as usual? It is left rather open-ended in that regard, but it makes sense. There isn't one solution that will work. It isn't always as simple as just breaking up and goodbye forever.
And that's the movie, basically. It's hard to have a good time with this film. It really does do its best to show how a relationship like this looks realistically. But watching it is just not enjoyable. It feels too much like a chore. It's not horrible, but I can't find many reasons to recommend it to anybody. I do believe the movie is too slow and irritating for anyone who can't directly relate to the subject.
The plot is fairly simple at first glance. Alice, Tess and Sophie take a trip to a cottage for Tess's Birthday. However, Alice lies to her Partner and says that she's going on a business trip for reasons not yet clear.
The movie kind of just drags on from there on out. They get to the cottage and they argue a lot.
The intrigue comes from Alice's reactions to any sort of message or reference to her boyfriend. These are just brief scenes, but Anna Kendrick plays them to perfection, making every panic attack painfully realistic and depressing to watch.
The cast overall is very strong in my opinion, but like I mentioned before, Alice and her friends don't really do all that much besides argue. It definitely serves its purpose in painting her boyfriend (Simon) to be a manipulative partner, but as a viewer, seeing these characters go at each other's throats is just mind-numbingly annoying.
Even after some of the tension loosens between the friends, the mood doesn't really lift all that much because it is all shot in the most distant and cold manner. Essentially, leaving all the positive emotion the characters are supposedly feeling lost to the audience. Maybe it's the lack of vibrant colors or the overindulgent cinematography, but it just didn't resonate with me the way it was meant to.
The strongest parts are definitely in direct confrontation with the abusive manner of Alice's relationship. For instance, in one scene, Alice is explaining how her boyfriend would shame her for eating chips in the most calm and oblivious manner while the smiles melt from her friends faces.
It is followed by another strong scene where her boyfriend comes to the cottage after finding out she lied about the business trip. I think this is one of the scenes that perfectly demonstrate the kind of relationship they are really in. He knows she is out having fun with her friends, but instead of leaving her be, he uses excuses to rain on their parade. Turning the lodge from a place where Alice was starting to feel comfortable, into another place where she is scared to do anything wrong.
One of the reasons he gives for his unannounced visit is the missing girl who was found dead. This is where the movie left me clueless to be completely honest. I can not for the life of me figure out what the significance of the missing girl is. It becomes a semi obsession of Alice throughout the film, but the connection to her is not explained, nor why she spends large parts of the movie looking for her. She does find a potential clue to the case and Simon shuts her down on it, but I don't believe they spent that much time on that subplot just for that one scene. I would stamp it out as my ignorance or unwillingness to dig for the deeper meaning, but truthfully, it isn't exactly an intriguing mystery that I have any incentive to care about.
The climax of the movie is pretty fitting, I think. It doesn't really wrap up neatly, but it doesn't need to. As Simon decides to take Alice back home, Sophie smashes in the rearview window of his car, resulting in a stare down between him and the girls. Ultimately, he decides to leave. But how does it continue when she has to leave the cottage and get back to life as usual? It is left rather open-ended in that regard, but it makes sense. There isn't one solution that will work. It isn't always as simple as just breaking up and goodbye forever.
And that's the movie, basically. It's hard to have a good time with this film. It really does do its best to show how a relationship like this looks realistically. But watching it is just not enjoyable. It feels too much like a chore. It's not horrible, but I can't find many reasons to recommend it to anybody. I do believe the movie is too slow and irritating for anyone who can't directly relate to the subject.