‘Alice, Darling’: Why Does Alice Leave Simon? Plot, Review and More

‘Alice, Darling’ is a psychological thriller drama film that will be released in 2022. It was directed by Mary Nighy, who was making her directorial debut, and the screenplay was written by Alanna Francis

The film examines the significance of having a strong support system for people who are dealing with abuse in their relationships. The story follows Alice, played by Anna Kendrick, who, at the beginning of the movie, appears to be living a life that is typical of urban settings.

On the other hand, it is becoming more and more obvious that her boyfriend, Simon (Charlie Carrick), is emotionally and mentally abusive to her.

When she takes a trip with her two best friends, Tess (played by Kaniehtiio Horn) and Sophie (played by Wunmi Mosaku), her problems become clear to both of them. Everything you need to know about how the show ‘Alice, Darling’ comes to a close may be found here.

Alice, Darling
Alice, Darling

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‘Alice, Darling’: Plot

The opening sequence of the movie is a quick flash forward. We notice Alice enjoying herself when she is swimming underwater in the scene. The narrative then brings the characters back to the present, and the feelings of contentment are suddenly replaced by apprehension, uncertainty, and fear.

While she is out with her pals for a rare get-together, the conversation turns to the possibility of taking a trip together “up north” to celebrate Tess’ 30th birthday.

Nearby is a cottage there that belongs to Sophie’s parents, and she guarantees that her parents will not show up unannounced to visit their property.

Alice obviously flinches every time she receives a message from Simon, and she assures her friends that she will carefully review the holiday plans before departing earlier than planned.

Although Simon does not physically abuse Alice, he exerts control over practically every facet of her life. As a result, the two of them have developed a co-dependent relationship in which Simon is in charge at all times. Alice is well aware that he will not consent to her travelling with her close pals.

Therefore, she musters up the guts to deceive Simon by telling him that she is required to leave on a business trip to Minneapolis. At first, Simon doesn’t seem very concerned about it, and Alice has already left for her vacation. During the time they were away, her friends were aware that Alice was not feeling well.

In addition to the primary storyline, there is also a side one that follows the events surrounding the disappearance of a local girl called Andrea Evans.

After arriving at the cabin, Alice and her companions find out about the girl’s disappearance, and Alice eventually joins the group that is searching for the missing girl.

The fact that Andrea went away is symbolic of Alice’s own difficulties in her connection with Simon and the places those difficulties could take her if she doesn’t break free of the relationship.

Alice, Darling
Alice, Darling

‘Alice, Darling’: Why Does Alice Leave Simon?

It is clear from an early point in the movie that the connection between Simon and Alice is unhealthy for Alice, and that she is progressively shedding her sense of self-worth as a result of it. Simon is a successful artist who, when he is having self-doubts about his future and talents, goes to Alice for support.

He does this by utilising the unbalanced relationship that the two of them share in order to prop up his confidence. In exchange, he seems to get a kick out of openly and covertly humiliating her, despite the fact that he is fully aware of the psychological toll it has on her.

Because of the sheer nature of his power over Alice, the latter has frequently pondered the possibility that he is able to read minds. This hints at yet another facet of Simon’s nature, which is the fact that he is both intelligent and manipulative.

Simon is aware of the fact that Alice’s friendships with Sophie and Tess provide her with the greatest amount of support and strength. As a result, he makes an effort to disentangle her from them and subtly guides Alice’s actions in such a way that she engages in antagonistic behaviour towards the other two females.

Because of this, if Tess and Alice have a disagreement while they are on vacation, Alice will inevitably bring up the fact that Tess is not as successful an artist as Simon and has no idea what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

Tess is not exempt from Alice’s attacks, which the latter commits inadvertently, despite the fact that Alice has a better connection with Sophie than she does with Tess, most likely because Sophie is not as brutally honest and outspoken as Tess.

Alice, Darling
Alice, Darling

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‘Alice, Darling’: Relationship

The fact that Alice has developed an eating disorder as a result of her relationship with Simon is brought to Sophie’s friend’s attention by Sophie. To demonstrate that she was incorrect, Alice stuffed a handful of blueberries into her mouth.

After that, however, she is interrupted by a phone call from Simon, at which point she spits the blueberries out before continuing her conversation with him. She eventually confides in her friends, destroying the conditioning that Simon has instilled in her throughout their time together.

After that, Alice’s luck begins to turn for the better. She eventually reverts back to the person she was before she became involved with Simon. Alice, who is gradually getting back to her former self, chooses to ignore Simon’s persistent phone calls in order to concentrate on the time she is spending on vacation with her friends.

She relaxes her guard and allows herself to be who she is without the limitations that Simon has imposed on her thinking for the first time in a very long time. The dynamic between them is able to shift as a direct result of the changes her friends bring about in her life.

After a period of time during which he did not hear from her, Simon shows up one day out of the blue and quickly coerces Alice into leaving with him. It would appear that her relapse was precipitated by Simon’s arrival. It comes as a surprise to her pals, who at first just watched her leave.

They come to the conclusion that Alice’s actions are not always the result of her own free will, and as a result, they make the decision to save their friend. When Sophie and Tess finally catch up with Alice and Simon, Sophie uses her maul to smash the back windscreen of Simon’s car, causing the glass to shatter.

Tess does the same thing. It would appear that as a result of this, Simon loses control of Alice. Alice jumps out of the car and steadfastly refuses to comply with Simon’s demand that she get back in the vehicle. Tess positions herself as a physical barrier between her friend Alice and her boyfriend Simon in order to protect Alice.

Simon, upon realising that he has lost his grasp on Alice, makes a snarky remark about giving it a week and dumping away all of Sophie’s bags from his car before leaving. This is done before he leaves.

The movie concludes with a sequence that refers to the flashforward that we saw at the beginning of the film. Alice paddles a longboard to the middle of the lake, where she then disembarks and swims.

She smiles to herself and experiences feelings of contentment as she gazes up at the water’s surface. She pulls herself out out of the water and allows herself to breathe, which is a metaphor for Alice breaking free from her connection with Simon.

Alice, Darling
Alice, Darling

‘Alice, Darling’: What Happened to Andrea Evans?

The subplot that focuses on Andrea not only makes the main story of “Alice, Darling” more complicated but also highlights several of the movie’s most important ideas.

Alice receives information about Andrea’s disappearance from two law enforcement agents not long after she arrives at the cottage. Later on, she makes the decision to participate in the search party rather than go with her pals.

Sophie and Tess initially feel frustrated with her, but over time, they come to see why the other girl, who Alice does not even know, has unexpectedly become significant to her.

Alice recognises many aspects of her current situation in the events that have transpired with Andrea, and vice versa. She eventually comes to the conclusion that the young woman, just like herself, has been confined in some place from which she is unable to escape.

Alice hopes that she can help both herself and Andrea if she participates in the search for Andrea. However, it is Simon once more who dashes that glimmer of optimism when he shows Alice and her friends the newspaper and explains that the body of the girl has been discovered.

We are never given a clear explanation of what took place with Andrea, but this is not a problem because the underlying goal of the subplot has already been accomplished. The purpose of including it is to emphasise how horrible Alice’s situation is as a result of Simon’s statements.

She held out a fervent wish that the girl was still alive and that she would be located; this would indicate that there was still a chance for her as well. Simon dashes Alice’s hopes and undoes the headway she’s made since arriving at the cabin when he lets her in on the secret about what happened to Andrea.

‘Alice, Darling’: Review

  • When the main character of “Alice, Darling” first appears on screen, she exudes the air of a lady who is totally modern, liberated, and content with her life.
  • From the outside, it would appear that Alice (Anna Kendrick) has practically everything she could want, including a successful career, a group of close friends, a nice apartment in Toronto, and a boyfriend who is attentive to her needs. However, if you look more closely, you’ll notice that there are cracks all around her smile.
  • The longer you look, the more fractures you see and the deeper they are, which makes the flawless image that Alice projects to the rest of the world appear unsettlingly weak and in jeopardy of falling apart at any moment.
  • Even though I’m not a Kendrick Lamar completist, I get excited whenever I see her. She is one of those artists who appears like someone you either know or would like to know because of her charming, likeable demeanour and ever-so-slightly off presence.
  • She is a talented actor with an endearing charisma, and a significant part of her appeal lies in the fact that she is particularly skilled at portraying roles that are convincingly lived-in.
  • If you ignore the fact that she can also seem extremely tightly wound, like someone who needs to keep it together, like someone who is performatively normal, Kendrick looks like a friend, like someone you went to high school with, although maybe you didn’t get stoned with her because she comes across as so straight.
  • The idea that there is more going on underneath Kendrick’s likeable persona works well for both her character and for this movie, which is a liberation story that follows Alice as she fights to break free of her emotionally abusive lover and her paralysing fears. This works well for both her character and for this movie.
  • Her boyfriend, Simon, played by Charlie Carrick, is one of the many things in Alice’s life that, at first glance, appears to be successful. He is a somewhat successful artist, but he is anxious about the impending exhibition at his gallery.
  • Even though he has a good appearance, Alice should not be around him because of the way he treats her (the way he looms over her, the way he scowls, the contempt that creeps into his voice, the insults that he hurls at her). And despite everything, she still loves him.

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