Anna Kendrick Worked Through Trauma Filming ‘Alice, Darling’

Alice, Darling is a new psychological thriller starring Anna Kendrick, who plays a movie role like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Normally cast as the upbeat, happy-go-lucky girl or a sidekick in Twilight, Kendrick plays the role of Alice, a young woman in an emotionally abusive relationship. When Alice has to lie to her boyfriend so she can spend a week on vacation with her female friends, she’s forced to confront the true nature of her relationship and deal with her friends’ concerns. 

If Kendrick’s performance looks authentic in the film, that may be because she has real-life experience in that department. Kendrick has revealed in her press interviews that she was once a victim of emotional abuse herself.

What is ‘Alice, Darling’ about? 

Alice, Darling first debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022, but it didn’t hit American theaters until January 20, 2023. The plot follows Alice, a young woman with a psychologically abusive boyfriend, Simon (played by Charlie Carrick). When Alice’s two best friends ask her to join them on a birthday vacation “up north for a week,” Alice seems excited, but hesitant. 

Later, Alice lies to Simon and says she has to go out of town for work. While she’s away from him, she reassesses her relationship and realizes it isn’t healthy. But when she attempts to break her codependency, Simon becomes vengeful.

Initial reviews for Alice, Darling have been mixed. Some claim that the film’s label as a thriller is misleading, and that it’s more of a female friendship tale. Others praise its ability to capture the trauma of psychological abuse. But no matter how you feel about the movie itself, one thing is certain: Kendrick’s performance is stellar, and she clearly draws on her own personal experience to bring the character of Alice to life.

Anna Kendrick’s revealing interviews

During her press interviews, Kendrick revealed that the reason she chose this film was due to her own experiences with emotional abuse. She said she was in an emotionally abusive relationship for six years, only fully extricating herself from it when she was sent the script for Alice, Darling. 

At first, Kendrick did not plan to reveal anything about her personal life during the interviews. It just happened. In an interview with IndieWire, she 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?’” She added that starring in Alice, Darling and promoting the film was part of her own way of coping and healing. 

Kendrick said on The Kelly Clarkson Show that the film is about psychological and emotional abuse, but also the power of friendship and the way that you can get through things as long as you have the right people in your corner. She added “That’s how I got out.”