Sarah Gadon, Edward Holcroft, Zachary Levi

ALIAS ALICE is a layered historical drama based on of Margaret Atwood’s Giller Prize–winning novel about a poor Irish servant accused and convicted of murder, from Canadians screenwriter Sarah Polley and director Mary Harron (AMERICAN PSYCHO).

This is a woman’s film all the way, and the female presence is felt – and in a good way. The story concerns the incident of Marks allegedly killing her wealthy employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his stern housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery, in Upper Canada in 1843.

Years later, as the adult Grace relates her story (as the film begins) to an increasingly appalled and distracted doctor brought in to assess her sanity, it becomes clear there’s far more at work here than widely assumed. The ALIAS PROJECT is filmed as a TV miniseries.

The film shown at TIFF, well shot, well acted, written and directed and even more impressive being for TV, is comprised of the first two episodes.

The film ends with the audience wanting for more.