Alice, Darling

I get the low ratings. People want their breath taken away, getting excited and entertained. Well, this movie is true to life, and life rarely does any of these. At least not in a good way when you live with an abuser. It sucks all happiness out of you and makes your life anxious and miserable. The movie is kind of slow and uneventful so the hidden emotions can sink in and open your eyes. It's subtle, but spot-on. The three girls are all stellar! The abuser feels flat and hollow, because that's what abusers are - fake and pretending, until they think they've got you and show their real face. I have to admit, I did not enjoy the movie. It's not really meant to be enjoyed. But I enjoyed the superb acting, the setting, the genuine friendship and love, the little gestures. Anna Kendrick is killing it! And the supporting cast too! Remember to just be kind to each other. You don't know what the person in front of you might be going through or dealing with.

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.

Loved this movie and a great debut for director Mary Nighy. The film creates a real sense of what it must be like for the abused party when the abuser is a controlling, manipulator. There were Great performances too from The three main characters who demonstrate the spirit of friendship as the became increasingly aware of what was really going on. It just goes to show that a psychological drama does not need to be extreme or violent and that the damage and trauma of control and manipulation can be subtle and unseen.

It's a mystery to me why the early reviews on IMDB have been so negative about this movie.

You're with a man who's very subtly coercive, in a relationship that's vile and corrosive, playing tricks with how you think, makes you wither, narrow, shrink, this is no way to spend your days, no life to live. Time with friends gives you a chance to float, reflect, of how your mind has crashed and burned, become a wreck, with their help they catch your fall, assist the break with a large maul, evict the poison from your heart, with great effect.

I thought Anna Kendrick was amazing as the mentally anguished and tortured Alice, who's fairy-tale romance had turned out to be anything but, as she finds out what friendship and love really can be, when those close truly care.

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"Alice, Darling brilliantly tackles the sensitive topic of abusive relationships. Alanna Francis' script stands out with a profound, respectful look into an emotionally disturbed Anna Kendrick - career-best performance - but also into the genuine best of female friendship.

A non-exploitative look into how psychological violence can be as traumatic as any other kind of physical abuse, as well as how insanely difficult it is to leave such a toxic relationship.

Mary Nighy cannot escape the subgenre's formulaic boundaries, but she should be proud of such an enlightening, impactful feature directorial debut."

Rating: B+