Alice was fine. It was a perfectly enjoyable film. It does not deserve its current 4.4 rating. The acting and cinematography was top notch, the dialogue was simplistic but the story was was entertaining and meaningful. Only mistake these folks made was putting a black face on the cover and-- 'boom!'-- minus three stars. Ignore these jive talkin' reviewers, man; Alice is all-right.

First off, I genuinely love Keke Palmer, Johnny Lee Miller and Common.

With the expectations high I have to say that I may have set myself up for something a little grander BUT that certainly did not take away from what was a very enjoyable film.

There are parallels to The Village (2004) and Antebellum (2020) but they are mostly on the surface. I did guess 'The Village' bit very early on, but I believe that we were meant to, as there was a very obvious hint within the first 15 mins.

Where I think the story suffered a bit was how quickly it wrapped up as there clearly would be a lot for Alice to unpack when she becomes fully aware of her circumstances. Coming in at just over 90mins., I would've dedicated another 30 mins to this easily to flesh out the ending better.

The other reviews that seem to think that the influence of popular (and historical) African-American culture wouldn't have informed the protagonist are reaching. While a bit rushed, Alice indeed becomes informed from a pretty good balance of history and pop culture. And why wouldn't she model herself after the female icons of the time?

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so I wouldn't discount the parallels too much from The Village, as indeed the movie takes that root from an actual recent historical event.

A few points shaved for the rushing to conclusion, and for a little unbalanced screen time for the antagonists to add some more weight.

The down-voting is an issue for me and those who follow my reviews are keenly aware of this. But, while I wouldn't upvote in response, the honest rating for Alice is 6.7/10 but the score and soundtrack will subsidize that back to a 7/10.