Where are her friends? We see none. We hear no mention of them. Was she that insular? Or alienating? Or was it a facet that the filmmakers either did not or could not involve in the story?
I felt it odd.
I slept with you and you're in love with my husband. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?
I noticed that too. The whole family seemed distant and cold. The husband dismissing her fear at first, even though he is a doctor. The eldest daughter treating her like an invalid far before Alice really starts deteriorating. The lack of compassion was quite shocking.
shareThe family were ported as unfeeling and distant from Alice and her situation..all except Lydia. The rest of the family were all academics who are career driven, including g Alice until it is stolen from her...all except Lydia. She stands out in her genuine love e for her mother especially which is proven by her decision to walk away from her dream of acting g to become her mother's full - time carer. The Skype calls they share show her constant concern for her mother when she's still based in L.A.
The real warmth of the film came from Lydia and her scenes with Alice. Kristen Stewart brought a genuine and palpable warmth to her character and considering she had few scenes to develop this depth, she managed to convey to the audience that special relationship between mother and daughter, without which, Moore 's portrayal of Alice would have lost a little dimension. The final scene is a beautiful one and a fitting way to end the movie.
Anna is the epitome of the daughter who has to be seen to be the one who's closer to her mother than her sister until it starts to count...then she just wants to farm her out. The shock reaction was from the husband...and yet we're given a heavy clue in the 1st scene when he toast Alice as the most beautiful smart woman he's ever known. ..and when these qualities diminish, so does his love for her, even to the extreme of suggesting she may have had enough (of life) during their trip to Pinkberries.
I think it was supposed to be family-focussed as that was more relevant to her disease re daily care, genetics etc.
In the book she didn't have many friends either but her and her husband had dinner with people more often. That was mentioned in the film too, when she forgot a dinner appointment.
In the book she also made a support group with other early-onset patients although I don't think that made it into the film. The book also goes into her colleagues' distant reactions to her. I get the impression that there was a colleague/friend overlap given how much time she spent at work. Also, another theme was how busy they both were with work, which probably meant some friends fell by the wayside over the years.