Academy Award-nominated actor Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air) is stepping back into the world of thrillers. While her role as a mommy blogger turned naive detective in A Simple Favor tiptoed on the edge of dark comedy, Kendrick’s next film in the genre pushes her into the suffocating reality of a woman in an abusive relationship, as shown in Lionsgate’s first trailer for Alice, Darling, per Variety.
Coming from Mary Nighy (Industry) in her directorial debut, the psychological thriller stars Kendrick as Alice, “a woman pushed to the breaking point by her psychologically abusive boyfriend, Simon (Charlie Carrick),” as described by the film’s synopsis.
In the trailer, we see Alice’s fear of her relationship. As she tells Simon about her weekend getaway with her two close friends, it becomes an actively nonchalant lie that Alice has to practice before facing him. Away from Simon’s control, Alice finds herself again on the upstate trip. Yet, tensions begin to mount as Simon’s anger becomes obvious to Alice, causing her to spiral and leaving her friends worried. When Simon arrives mysteriously at the girl’s cabin, Alice finds herself trapped once again, leading to a test of her “strength, her courage, and the bonds of her deep-rooted friendships,” reads the film’s synopsis.
Starring Kendrick and Carrick, Alice, Darling’s small cast includes Kaniehtiio Horn (Rutherford Falls) and BAFTA winner Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country). Alice, Darling was written by Alanna Francis (The Rest Of Us), with Katie Bird Nolan, Christina Piovesan, Noah Segal, Lindsay Tapscott, and Sam Tipper-Hale onboard as producers.
Alice, Darling will exclusively release in LA theaters on December 30th before expanding to screens nationwide on January 20th.