Emily VanCamp is excellent here starring as Alice, a self-destructive young woman working as an editor for a book publisher, in NYC. Her boss (Jordan Lage) discounts her abilities, and really just wants her to be his personal secretary. Her father (Michael Cristofer), a literary agent. is an overbearing and boorish slimeball.
However, when Alice's boss wants her to manage the re-release of an acclaimed best seller, some 15 years before, as an e-book, it will rekindle horrific and painful memories for her that occurred at that time. Often told through flashbacks, we see 16-year-old Alice being manipulated and sexually abused by the book's author Milan Daneker. The superb actor Michael Nyqvist is perfectly cast as Milan, and is so believable and despicable you just want to reach through the screen and give him a smack.
As a result of all this, Alice has such a poor self-image that she has become promiscuous, with her life filled with one-night stands from bar pick-ups. The crucial question, and the crux of the movie will be whether once she meets a nice guy and solid citizen (David Call), can she finally have a loving and meaningful relationship, or will she revert to her old ways?
In supporting roles, I thought Ali Ahn did a fine job as Sadie, Alice's best friend, and Ana Mulvoy-Ten was most solid as young Alice. The movie was written and directed by Marya Cohn, who's making her feature film debut here, and I read the film is semi-autobiographical. I would be interested in seeing what else Cohn brings to the screen.
In summary, as mentioned, this is not an easy film to view, but, overall, I came down on the positive side after seeing its rather uplifting final segments.
