Alice: Another Review

18th March 2022

Alice (Keke Palmer) lives with her husband, Joseph (Gaius Charles) on a plantation where they are slaves. Their owner, Paul Bennet (Johnny Lee Miller) is unsurprisingly a cruel man and makes their lives a living hell with regular beatings and other such cruel and unusual punishments.

Joseph remains unbroken though and plans to escape by any means possible, although no matter how hard he tried he finds escape impossible. Then one day after Alice has taken all she can take she runs as fast as she can and escapes the clutches of the slave owner. She keeps running and eventually finds herself on a road where a car drives by and nearly hits her.

A kind hearted truck driver named Frank (Common) picks her up, puts her in his truck and drives her to the nearest hospital. That’s where Alice realises that the year is 1973 and that things have changed since the days of slavery. Although the more she learns about how things have changed, the more she sees the things that haven’t changed at all.

Alice is a drama written and directed by Krystin Ver Linden and is her feature debut which is also executive produced by Keke Palmer. Taking some of the most commonly known aspects of how black people are depicted in cinema (slave and badass Blaxploitation hero), Ver Linden’s script merges the two and brings out the best of her lead.

Palmer plays an exceptional role and takes on the seemingly overwhelming task of depicting two very different sides and does them with ease. Her beginning as Alice, the traumatised and timid slave slowly turns into a strong and confident woman and Palmer’s performance reflects that easily, with subtlety and nuance.

Such a large amount of time has passed for Alice, she learns about the Civil Rights movement and sees people that look like her and it empowers her, realising that her freedom means so much more now. Although the more fantastical parts are not explained which results in Alice’s revenge, it doesn’t matter. Alice’s revenge feels satisfying and just, giving the film a large set piece, although perhaps with Alice embodying her cinematic idol, the finale may lose its message.

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