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Year: 2016
Runtime: 91 min
Language: English
Director: Joshua Marston
As the veil of familiarity lifts at a dinner party, Michael Shannon's Tom encounters Rachel Weisz's enigmatic Alice, whose mysterious past tantalizes and unsettles him. With her sudden departure, Tom embarks on a labyrinthine pursuit, unraveling the threads of their entwined lives as they navigate the blurred lines between identity and deception.
Warning: spoilers below!
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A woman navigates through a maze of varied lives, adopting different aliases in numerous cities. In the hustle and bustle of New York City, she orchestrates a chance meeting with Clyde at a local cafeteria, presenting herself as Alice, a biologist passionately studying frogs and recently back from an extensive project in Tasmania.
Meanwhile, Clyde’s friend, Tom, is busy prepping for a birthday celebration with his wife, Ramina, who aspires to be a jewelry designer. Alice expresses her desire to meet new friends, prompting Tom to invite her to the party. There, she captivates Ramina and other guests with fascinating stories about her life and expeditions in Tasmania. Upon returning home, Tom appears to recognize her and calls her “Jenny.” Ramina shares exciting news about being accepted into a renowned jewelry design fellowship in California, much to Tom’s surprise. During dinner, Alice recounts her impulsive choice to live in Mexico for a year, a revelation that prompts unsettling questions about her life decisions from fellow guests.
Later, Tom confronts Alice, who confesses that she is indeed Jenny, an old college girlfriend who vanished years ago. She reveals a life spent in a multitude of assumed identities, leaving each behind whenever she feels confined. Her visit to New York is rooted in a desire to reconnect with Tom, someone from her past.
The evening takes them to a nightclub, where Alice performs a magic trick for Tom, claiming she learned it during her stint as a magician’s assistant in China. This revelation raises suspicions among Tom and the others about the authenticity of her tales. After leaving the club, they encounter a woman named Nina walking her dog. When Nina injures her ankle, they lend a helping hand to escort her back to her apartment, where Alice claims to be a pediatric surgeon. At Roger’s suggestion, Tom examines Nina, at which point he starts to grasp the thrill that Alice experiences from living in disguise, but soon feels discomfort, leading them to depart.
Tom questions Alice about her honesty, to which she reassures him that she genuinely works with animals. She then takes him to Long Island for a glimpse of her work with frog hatchlings. Later, as Alice prepares to leave for yet another new identity, she invites Tom to join her, but he declines. Returning home, he engages in conversation with his wife about California.
In a poignant moment at a public restroom, Alice discards her credit cards, retaining only her driver’s license, which finds a place in a scrapbook filled with remnants of her former selves. With a newfound determination, she steps away into the throng of people, only to reemerge, donned in different attire, embodying her latest identity.
Last Updated: November 08, 2024 at 01:47
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