Sundance. Phoebe in Wonderland.

"First time writer/director Daniel Barnz knocks it out of the park with Phoebe in Wonderland, an imaginative, layered tale about a young girl struggling to fit in and find her place," writes Kim Voynar at Cinematical. "Elle Fanning (younger sister of Dakota Fanning) stars as Phoebe, a nine-year-old girl who finds herself struggling against the conformity and rules around her. Phoebe is an intelligent and creative child with a passion for Alice in Wonderland."

"In a tour-de-force performance by Fanning (do the Fanning siblings do any less?) we see her deteriorate before our eyes but Barnz creates a Heavenly Creatures-like world in which she travels into as Phoebe finds solace in the Alice in Wonderland characters," writes Jason Guerrasio at Filmmaker. "As the film moves on fantasy overtakes reality leaving to a conclusion that many may feel is a little too campy but it's the journey you take to get there that's the thing that kept me into it."

"It's frustrating to see a movie come so close to articulating something specific and important about being the parent of a special needs child - or any child, really - and then retreat into broad strokes, out of fear of losing the audience," writes the AV Club's Noel Murray.

"The main reason to see Phoebe in Wonderland is for yet another astonishing Fanning performance," writes Mike D'Angelo at ScreenGrab. "How these little girls are able to summon such powerful reserves of fear and anguish and terror, I have no idea. I'm not really sure I want to know, to be honest."

The Reeler and indieWIRE talk with Barnz.

Online viewing tip. Zoom In Online's "Meet the Artists" video with Barnz.

Posted by dwhudson at January 24, 2008 9:28 AM