I learned about this movie from its interviews… Anna Kendrick saying she wanted to play a role that didn’t rely on her being adorable. And Anna Kendrick is naturally adorable so I support her choice to go darker, to add more layers, to be less adorable in a movie. I hope she doesn’t make a career out of it.

Alice, Darling stars Kendrick as a woman in a bad relationship who isn’t sure she’s friends with her long time friends any longer. When she winds up on birthday vacation with them, she slips further and further into depression and alienation.

Yep – does what the interview said. If you want your Anna Kendrick sad and mopey… if you want to see her flex those acting muscles… then this is the movie for you. You want to wallow in depression, through scene after awkward scenes of silence and self-recrimination? Step right up.

I might sound sarcastic, but I’m not. This is a character study of a deeply depresses person played by a person who we usually buy tickets to see happy.. and adorable. She does a great job in a job she’s not asked to do often.

<RANDOM ASIDE>It’s not the most eventful film and it did give me time to Google the difference between a maul and an axe. I thank the movie for bringing this important topic to my attention. I’ll know next time I’m out in the woods splitting logs.</RANDOM ASIDE>

For a movie that’s basically depression porn, I can’t say I hated it. I can’t say I exactly enjoyed either it since it’s not really designed to be fun. But I respect the effort and good on Kendrick for broadening her acting choices. Maybe not for everyone… it’s slow and morose… but it’s well acted and thoughtful.

Score: 76