Alice (Anna Kendrick) goes for a weeklong vacation at her friend Wummi Mosaku's cabin to celebrate the birthday of mutual friend Kaniehtilo Horn. The three have known each other since elementary school but hadn't seen much of Alice lately. owing to all the time she has been spending at work and with her new artist boyfriend Charlie Carrick. Over the course of the vacation Wummi and Kaniehtilo notice strange behavior from Alice, a nervous fidgetiness, excessive time on her phone, her generally being less fun and more irritable. When Alice starts talking about cutting the vacation short and leaving before Kaniehtilo's birthday, Kaniehtilo takes and hides her keys and cellphone to force her to stay. Cut off from the outside world Alice starts acting more like her old self, and revels that her relationship with the seemingly charming Charlie is not as ideal as it appeared to be. Then Charlie shows up at the cabin.
This generally understated Canadian production has a nice, unhurried pace, is reflective and enjoyably small scale. Star Anna Kendrick reports having once been in a relationship like this, and the film is a rumination on how otherwise smart and independent women can become trapped in abusive relationships. While Charlie is not a physically abusive man, he is imposingly tall and emotionally manipulative and had slowly been stripping away at Alice's sense of self-worth. Alice was afraid that Charlie wouldn't "let her" go on the birthday trip, so she lied and told him she was traveling for work. When Charlie figures this out, he is upset, yet when he shows up uninvited at the cabin he puts on a show of being understanding. With Alice reverting to subservient behavior, it's up to Wummi and Kaniehtilo to figure out how to best get Alice out of her bad situation.
The film also contains a counterpoint B plot about a local young woman who has gone missing. At several points in the movie Alice and friends encounter search parties and even assist them for a time. The uncertain fate of the missing girl parallels the uncertain fate of Alice. Once the missing girl's fate is finally reveled, it becomes make or break time for Alice's future as well. ***
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