“It doesn’t matter if some people don’t get this film, because for the people who do, it will really resonate”: Mary Nighy on psychological drama Alice, Darling

Mary Nighy was inspired to write her first short film whilst on the set of the 2006 movie Marie Antoinette, in which she had a role (as Princesse Lamballe) and worked under the direction of Sofia Coppola. After many years as an actress, Mary, daughter of famed actor Bill Nighy, recently presented her debut feature Alice, Darling. The film is a psychological drama dealing with toxic relationships, starring Anna Kendrick. The filming process was complex, as the director explained at a preview screening in London, especially because it took place during the pandemic. 

Nighy felt it was important to show a story of subtle psychological abuse, which may help people understand that such behaviours aren’t any more acceptable than physical violence. “We hoped that it would be useful in some way for the general public, but also if you’re going through it or if you’ve got a friend who’s going through it,” says Mary. “That’s something I found throughout the making of this film,” she adds, “many people, men and women, would say to me: ‘Simon [the toxic boyfriend in the film] really reminds me of my dad’, or ‘I’ve got a friend in this situation.’ A lot of people imagine that it’s always women, but actually, a man told me about his experience in a relationship like this. It’s certainly much more widespread than we realise.”

Speaking of the challenges encountered during filming, she explains that “because of the time element, I think we all came up with quite inventive ways of getting things done, and even though we had a big movie star and we were financed by Lionsgate, we still had to be super resourceful. I think that blend of indie filmmaking with these incredible elements, like having Kendrick as the lead, was quite a lesson. Because sometimes I had to front things that I didn’t want to front, like [telling Kendrick]: ‘Please, can you get back into the [freezing] lake?’ Or: ‘We’re gonna shoot this scene with the camera in a fish tank because we don’t have any camera gear.’ And Anna would always do it, so I was very grateful for that.”

Nighy knew from the start who she wanted in the lead role. “Our wonderful casting director Alice Searby and I spoke about Anna Kendrick for the role because we both found that she’s such a clever actor. I’ve seen her in Up in the Air, in A Simple Favor and in Scott Pilgrim, and I think sometimes people imagine that if you’re a comedic actor, it might not translate to drama. My feeling is that being really good at comedy is very technical, it’s very hard, and I don’t see why that would be a barrier. I think it would actually be a strength, and I knew from Up in the Air that she could do drama.”

“It was sort of pie in the sky,” Nighy continues, “but I wrote her a nice letter, and it went to her agents and very quickly they read the script and sent it to her, and very quickly she responded and we had a two-hour Zoom call. She mainly wanted to know where the story came from, and talk to me about my approach, and I think she was quite keen to make sure I wasn’t gonna try and make a sort of a Lifetime movie version where ‘guy beats girl, girl gets away.’ One of my own references was The Assistant, we spoke about how in that film Harvey Weinstein is a voice, he’s an absence more than he’s a presence, your understanding of the situation is very gradual, even though that’s a very famous story. Anna said very early on: ‘I think it doesn’t matter if some people don’t get this film, because the people who will get it, for them it will really resonate.’ Whereas if we turn this guy into a monster, it won’t be relevant to anyone, it would just be another made-up movie.”

Mersa Auda

Alice, Darling is released in select cinemas on 20^th January 2023. Read our review here.

Watch the trailer for Alice, Darling here: