In Krystin Ver Linden’s feature film debut, the writer-director brings a story that's trying to do way too much with limited time. Alice, about an enslaved woman who discovers there’s an entirely different world beyond the plantation’s borders, offers a solid central performance by Keke Palmer and not much else. The film has too much going on and much of it doesn’t blend well together, with Alice not getting enough time to develop before the film’s big ending.
Alice (Palmer) is a slave in antebellum Georgia, the preferred “domestic” of the cruel plantation owner Paul Bennett (Jonny Lee Miller), who only taught Alice to read so that she could read to him. Alice is married to Joseph (Gaius Charles) and they both dream of running away together. While this idea seems hopeless to their friends and family, Alice feels there is something bigger out there waiting for her. They lean further into their plans after learning Joseph’s grandfather saw a man drop from the sky wearing unusual clothes. When things go awry and Joseph is caught, Alice flees on her own, running through the woods until she reaches a highway in 1973 and is nearly run over by Frank (Common), a truck driver who takes her back to his home in a bid to help. Alice must adjust to being in the 1970s and plots her revenge against Paul.
Alice so often feels misleading and empty, spinning wildly from one established tone to a wholly different one after the titular character bursts through to 1973. The timeline twist isn’t enough to keep the film afloat, especially as the first half hour has a much steadier direction and does well to lay the groundwork of what’s to come. But rather than more fully exploring what it means for Alice to be in a different century and free, the film is adamant on getting things out of the way as quickly as possible to get to its conclusion. That Alice doesn’t live in the 1970s for longer than a day before she learns everything about the present and confronts her past makes the ending feel a lot less complete with regards to her character development.
By the time Alice decides she’s going back for revenge, the film borders on being more silly than serious. Alice takes a page out of Pam Grier’s Coffy to get stylish payback on Paul and, while it’s a clear homage to blaxploitation films, it’s a moment that doesn’t feel particularly at home in Alice. It’s a strange combination and one that isn’t handled very well. It’s ultimately Keke Palmer’s performance that lends any credibility to all the emotions Alice is feeling. As Alice reads her way through the history of Black people, catching up on everything that’s happened — from the Emancipation Proclamation to the Civil Rights Movement — Palmer’s eyes and facial expressions do a lot to convey the shock, relief, happiness, frustration, and outright anger her character feels. And it is only through her exceptional portrayal that Alice is redeemed.
Common has a lot less material to work with and Frank is a far more ive character despite having been an activist for ten years. Frank has some tension with his brother, but it’s just as underdeveloped as his reasons for briefly questioning Alice’s mission. Common’s performance suffers because of it. Aside from Palmer’s portrayal, the story is otherwise all over the place, with Ver Linden attempting to do too many things at once in a film that could have used a lot more time to properly flesh out its arc. Any proper character development and the forging of new relationships is overlooked and overshadowed by the revenge thriller portion of the film, which feels tacked on to deliver a kick-ass conclusion.
One can appreciate what Ver Linden is trying to do in Alice, but the third act substitutes style over substance, which greatly harms the film and Alice’s journey in it, especially as it leads to an ending that feels more sensationalized than anything. Palmer is fantastic in a film that needed more depth and time for Alice to acclimate to her surroundings. Without that, it leaves Alice’s realism and emotional core lacking as it veers wildly into one-note chaos.
Alice premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and is scheduled for release on March 18, 2022. The film is 100 minutes long and is not yet rated.
Alice (2022) is a drama film directed by Krystin Ver Linden, starring Keke Palmer in the titular role. The story follows Alice, an enslaved woman in the 19th-century South, who escapes her captors only to discover a shocking reality beyond the limits of the plantation. The film explores themes of freedom, resilience, and societal transformation with a compelling narrative and strong performances by the cast.
