Actor Anna Kendrick has stepped into a completely different role in her new movie, Alice, Darling. Commonly seen in movies as the funny, neurotic-leaning character, Kendrick takes a dark turn in Alice, Darling as a character drowning in an emotionally abusive relationship. Shockingly, Kendrick says she was sent the script because of how similar Alice’s life was to her own.
‘Alice, Darling’ stands out among Anna Kendrick movies
Alice, Darling follows Kendrick’s Alice as she embarks on a week-long vacation with her two closest girlfriends. Scared to tell her emotionally abusive boyfriend, Simon, that she is going on vacation without him, Alice lies to him, telling him she is going on a work trip. Once away, Alice is made to come to terms with her abusive relationship.
Reviews for Alice, Darling are a mixed bag with critics applauding the film’s ability to capture the insidious nature of psychological abuse as well as the nuanced dynamics of female friendship. Some critics say the film’s label as a thriller is misleading, but many say the film’s subtility is what makes it shine.
Contrary to the film’s high critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes (currently at 84%), Alice, Darling audience reviews are significantly lower at 44%. Many found the film “slow” and “lacking plot,” however viewers in both the critical and general audience categories seem to agree that Kendrick’s performance is astounding.
‘Alice, Darling’: Anna Kendrick has personal experience with emotional abuse
Speaking about the role during interviews, Kendrick revealed that her performance was due to her own experiences with emotional abuse. Kendrick has said that she was involved in an emotionally abusive relationship of her own for six years and had only recently extricated herself from it when she was sent the script for Alice, Darling (The Mary Sue).
But Kendrick says she never intended to reveal her personal experiences. Speaking to IndieWire, Kendrick said “the first interview where I talked about it, it was just sort of happening and…I was going like, ‘What are you doing?…What are you saying?’”
Following the news, Kendrick found herself inundated with questions about her personal life and her experiences with emotional abuse. And while Kendrick says her role as Alice was cathartic, discussing her real experiences while not on set and in character was more difficult.
The actress has turned the experience into a positive one, however, saying “like every really terrifying thing, the world didn’t swallow me whole when that happened. I didn’t just catch on fire. I’m kind of glad the Band-Aid got ripped off.”
Speaking with Yahoo! Entertainment, Kendrick said “I think most people that see the movie [will] say that they either have been Alice or they know somebody who’s been Alice… I think this kind of abuse is really common and it’s really, really hard to talk about because it’s really hard to identify.”
Anna Kendrick’s dating history and upcoming projects
The actress’ news has brought fresh attention to Kendrick’s dating history which includes serious relationships with Saturday Night Live star Bill Hader and director Edgar Wright. But it is Kendrick’s previous six-year relationship with cinematographer Ben Richardson that is suspected to be the one the actress is referring to when speaking about her experiences for Alice, Darling.
Kendrick’s relationship with Hader was her most recent and reportedly ended in June 2022. Since then, Kendrick has been busy with her upcoming projects which include the highly anticipated sequel to A Simple Promise starring Kendrick and Blake Lively along with Kendrick’s directorial debut in The Dating Game in which she will also star.
