Phoebe in Wonderland

Phoebe is nine and does not follow the rules at school. She spits on the stairs, will not line up, cannot stop washing her hands and repeats certain movements. She cannot explain to anyone that she is not doing these things by choice. The school is to stage Alice in Wonderland and Phoebe auditions; the drama teacher, Miss Dodger, casts her as Alice. The rehearsal room is the only place she is comfortable. Her mother Hillary is trying to write a thesis and refuses to put a name to her daughter's condition. Daniel Barnz writes and directs. Elle Fanning plays Phoebe, Felicity Huffman her mother and Patricia Clarkson the teacher. The condition described is Tourette syndrome, and the narrative leaves the diagnosis to the end; because it shows events through the child's eyes, the viewer does not know either for a while. Elle Fanning was ten when the film was made and the part carries almost the whole of it. The hardest strand is the mother; Hillary loves her daughter and also carries her own unfinished life, and the film does not judge her for it. The fantastical scenes are deliberately kept in proportion; the world of the play spills into Phoebe's mind but the narrative does not present that as an escape. It is an independent production and was shown at Sundance. Who it is for: viewers who like independent drama centred on a child. Who it is not for: the register wavers, some supporting characters remain incomplete, and the ending is softer than expected.