Film Review: Alphabet Lane Is A Haunting Story Of Love & Isolation

Alphabet Lane is a quietly unsettling Australian film that explores loneliness, identity, and the fragile ways people cope when connection disappears.

Written and directed by James Litchfield and set against a beautifully shot rural backdrop, the film follows Anna (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and Jack (Nicholas Denton), a couple who relocate from Sydney in search of a tree change.

The film’s central device is simple but effective: Anna and Jack work opposite shifts, he in construction during the day, she as a doctor at night, and briefly intersect on a dirt road between their commutes.

These roadside meetings become their only consistent point of connection, a small ritual that initially feels warm but gradually reveals the emotional distance growing between them. Their roadside conversations feel symbolic; they meet halfway physically, but never fully share their internal worlds.

Despite being a couple, Anna and Jack struggle to truly connect. Out of boredom and loneliness, Jack invents a fictional acquaintance. What begins as a harmless joke evolves into something much deeper and more troubling. The tragedy lies in the fact that both are reaching out, but not to each other.

Alphabet Lane Feature Film James Litchfield — One of the films strongest themes is adult loneliness particularly in modern society

The absence of community, support networks, and familiar environments creates a vacuum that the characters are unequipped to handle. In that sense, the film can be read as a critique of the romanticised “escape to the country” narrative.

Denton and Cobham-Hervey also serve as Executive Producers, and their investment in the material shows. Denton plays Jack with a subtle awkwardness that feels grounded and believable, particularly as the character loses control of the situation he created.

Cobham-Hervey gives a more emotionally exposed performance, capturing Anna’s growing isolation in a way that feels both intimate and uncomfortable to watch. Together, they carry the film’s quiet tension, even in its slower moments.

The cinematography, shot by Grégoire Lière in Litchfield’s hometown of Cooma, captures the serenity and isolation of the countryside with real elegance, wide open roads, soft natural light, and stillness. It quickly becomes clear that the calm setting masks something far more uneasy beneath the surface.

The score, composed by Mark Bradshaw, adds another layer to the film’s tone. Its use of soft, almost experimental elements, including vocal textures, gives the film a slightly off-kilter feeling that matches the characters’ psychological state without overwhelming the scenes.

One of the film’s strongest themes is adult loneliness, particularly in modern society. It taps into the uncomfortable reality that forming new friendships later in life is surprisingly difficult.

As Jerry Seinfeld once joked, by adulthood, most people’s friendship groups are full. The film takes this observation and pushes it into darker territory, asking what happens when that lack of connection becomes psychologically destabilising.

I found myself having a strong reaction to the social awkwardness in the film. That discomfort feels intentional. The film leans into that second-hand embarrassment to highlight how fragile and unsustainable a constructed reality is.

By the end, when both characters begin to blur the line between fiction and reality, the film shifts into something more abstract and unsettling. Their final encounter suggests a kind of shared psychological unravelling.

Alphabet Lane offers a poignant and thoughtful look at how isolation can shape perception and behaviour. It’s a quietly affecting film that lingers, particularly in the distinctly Australian way it captures the human need for connection in an increasingly disconnected world.

Alphabet Lane opens in select cinemas nationally from 23 April 2026. For screening details, check the website below.

Website: https://screeninc.com.au/screeninc-films/alphabet-lane/

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/alphabetlanefilm/