“Alice honey”, the movie that shows the abuse of control in relationships

If Mary Nighy has any doubts about the impact of her first feature film, Alice, honey (translated as “Alice, honey”), you just have to look at her social media accounts.

The English actress and filmmaker has been inundated on Instagram with direct messages from people who have seen the film and want to share their story.

According to Nighy, that’s been the general trend with this film: “Even during editing, when we shared the first drafts of the film, we saw how emotional people were. It’s actually pretty strong comes with a great responsibility”.

In “Alice Honey,” Anna Kendrick plays a successful 30-year-old woman caught in an emotionally abusive relationship with Simon, played by British actor Charlie Carrick.

Kendrick has been praised for her portrayal of Alice, a character far removed from the roles for which she is best known in films such as high in the air (“Love without stops”) or Pitch perfectly (“Perfect Tones”).

Nighy says: “What I didn’t know when I offered her the role was that [el tema] relevant to his own life”.

When the abuse is not physical

While promoting the film, Kendrick has spoken about his own experiences of being in an emotionally abusive relationship. It was this personal insight that made her the “right person” for Alice, explains the film’s screenwriter Alanna Francis.

“It was very productive for me to be able to talk to her and recall some of her experiences,” says the screenwriter, who in turn was inspired by her own story of a past relationship.

Like TV series Bad sisters (“Sisters to Death”) by Sharon Horgan, the film explores a relationship that is emotionally abusive.

The domestic violence charity Refuge describes this kind of abuse as coercive control“where an offender uses a pattern of behavior over time to exert power and control over a partner.”

However, in an early draft of the script, Francis was tempted to shoot a scene that showed Alice being physically assaulted.

‘To be honest, that design was probably marked by fear that people wouldn’t understand it. When we talked about it, the team around me said, ‘No, we can do the subtle version,’ and everyone was totally focused on that.”

Nighy adds, “Because it’s a newly diagnosed, understood and discussed form of abuse, I think there was a concern about whether or not I could be the guide for the movie. And I think it absolutely can.”

A key dialogue in the film occurs when Alice’s best friends stage some kind of intervention and take her to a small retreat.

“But he’s not hurting me,” Alice says, struggling to accept the truth about their relationship.

Reality transcends fiction

A spokeswoman for the charity Women’s Aid says: “Women in abusive relationships are not always aware that their relationship is not healthy, and abusive people often isolate their partner from their friends and support network, where conversations about relationships can often help identify when things not right.”

“Stories like these can reach audiences in ways we can’t, and while this is fictional, much of the behavior we see on screen reflects what women experience every day,” she adds.

The movie has received mostly positive reviews and some not so much.

Helen O’Hara of the magazine richgave it four stars:

“This is a slow-burning drama, almost a thriller, buoyed by Kendrick’s impeccable performance and highlighted by Carrick’s quietly monstrous turn, as a man who thinks he’s perfectly reasonable.

“But in the end it’s the heat of [las amigas] Mosaku and Horn that linger in the mind, as the women who awaken Alice and stand up for her against the omnipresent specter of male violence.”

Peter Bradshaw of the British newspaper Guardiangave it three stars: “There are some edge-of-the-seat moments and interestingly subtle tonal inflections, though the story spends time on a contrived subplot about a missing girl, time that could have been better spent fleshing out the central plot . the trill”.

The film was shot over 20 days in Toronto and rural Canada during the pandemic.

According to Nighy, it was the perfect environment for filming.

“The fact that I was in a very rural place where there were no paparazzi made it intimate. And I think it helped build trust between all the actors, the department heads and myself.”

power dynamics

In an interview with Tom Power for his Q podcast, Kendrick praised the director for creating a safe environment on set: “There were days when camera rehearsals ended up being group therapy. It was probably the only time I saw the beautiful Mary say, ‘Guys, we’re here to shoot a movie.

While the movie earned a 43% rating among movie fans on Rotten Tomatoes (albeit with fewer than 50 verified reviews), Nighy feels the audience’s reaction to the movie since its premiere last year at the Toronto Cinema is proof that the story has struck a chord. .

“What surprised me is that many men have spoken out. I think it should always be women,” she says.

“It’s worth questioning the power dynamics they use in their relationships for anyone beyond the fact that it’s a heterosexual, male-female thing.

“The film is meant to scare people off a bit. And ask questions.