When I saw the trailer for Phoebe In Wonderland I thought it was going to be a reimagining of the Lewis Carroll classic. Not so or at least not completely. There are definitely elements of Wonderland throughout the picture. One of the main plot points involves the stage production of Alice In Wonderland at Phoebe’s (Elle Fanning) school. Phoebe’s mother, Hilary (Felicity Huffman), is working on a thesis based on Wonderland. Plus, Phoebe sometimes slips into daydreams where she talks with various Wonderland characters.

But the movie isn’t all about chasing white rabbits and crazed monarchs offing heads. It’s mostly about Phoebe, a young girl who is a couple of steps above ordinary. For someone so young she is very observant, well read, and outspoken. Both Phoebe and her equally astute sister, Olivia (Bailee Madison), appeared to be products of an enriched home environment that seemed to be devoid of television, online gaming and texting devices. Hilary’s organic parenting style encouraged the children to think for themselves, gain a thirst for knowledge and express themselves without fear of embarrassment.

So what’s up with Phoebe? No one knows for sure. Her odd behavior includes making rude comments, spitting on people when she feels threatened and performing strange rituals like excessively scrubbing her hands. Hilary blames herself for not loving Phoebe enough while her husband, Peter (Bill Pullman), thinks maybe he’s not spending enough time at home. The parents even send their troubled daughter to a psychiatrist to see if the professional can get to root of the problem.

One day while heading to class Phoebe spots a sign up sheet for the school play, Alice In Wonderland, and decides to go for it. Her bumpy audition lands her the lead role but her mysterious behavior could jeopardize her chance to play “Alice” on opening night.

The central gist of the movie is finding out what Phoebe’s trouble really is. One minute she seems to be suffering from “outcast-ism” and then the next she expresses thoughts that could paint her as suicidal. Is she having a diva moment or does she really have some deep seated anger towards her mother? Some might be able to diagnose the problem early on but for someone like me who isn’t up on child psychology it was an intriguing guessing game. To me, Phoebe was just misunderstood and only acted out is when she felt threatened or severely stressed. Like the scene where the class gerbil dies and the class blames Phoebe because she was the last to feed him. When cornered she unleashes her small barrage of saliva-blasts to keep her attackers at bay.

Phoebe shares some of her grief with a schoolmate named Jamie (Ian Coletti), a young boy who also shares her misfit status. Jamie auditions for the play but not for the role of the White Rabbit or Mad Hatter. Instead, the young boy decides to take a bolder approach by going for the robe and crown of the Red Queen. Jamie endures a healthy dose of ridicule from his castmates for playing a girl. This doesn’t necessarily mean the boy is gay but the situation could be applied to the intolerance against the LGBT community or generally to anyone who's done something out of the norm.

A pivotal scene involves the drama teacher, Ms. Dodger (Patricia Clarkson) discovering that someone has written the term “fagot” on Jamie’s Red Queen costume. The teacher, incensed by the heinous act and that the term is misspelled to boot, sits the cast in a circle and tells Jamie to read the definition of “faggot” in the dictionary (which is noted in the film as being a bundle sticks, in case you didn’t feel like looking it up). Ms. Dodger uses this opportunity to remind her students that “namecalling” is wrong and to teach them that back in the day men played female roles. I think this moment resonated very strongly in me because it shows that hate and intolerance can be so easily squashed through education. I thought to myself how peaceful the world would be if we could all learn to love and respect each other at a young age and carry those ideals through to adulthood.

Ms. Dodger is that species of “cool teacher” that doesn’t look at her students as mere kids. She respects their minds and forces them to think outside of the box. She encourages the youngsters to stretch their intellects and find their own voices from within. An example of this technique is the first day of rehearsals when Ms. Dodger takes a seat in the first row of the audience section as she looks at her cast anxiously awaiting her direction. Ms. Dodger simply asks them how they would like to start the rehearsal. Gradually the kids get the hint and take it upon themselves to set up the play as Ms. Dodger gently guides from the sidelines. It’s no big shock that Phoebe grows attached to Ms. Dodger and in turn Ms. Dodger sees that Phoebe is not an average little girl.

And like most cool teachers Ms. Dodger has to put up with the slightly stuffy bureaucracy of the school staff especially Principal Davis (Campbell Scott) who almost seems determined to find some kind of evidence he can use to oust the unorthodox drama instructor. Seeing Hilary & Peter’s meeting with Principal Davis made me think of some past headlines about school discipline. Phoebe spitting on a student is bad behavior but the principal makes it sound like she committed murder. To me, the principle exaggerates the issue similar to the story about the boy suspended for kissing a girl or the boy who was denied his high school diploma because he went to his girlfriend’s prom at another school.

Through some brilliant screenwriting by Daniel Barnz all these issues and more are interwoven with the characters from Wonderland and it works. There’s a simplicity to the film that keeps things from getting too overblown or overdramatic. Phoebe In Wonderland was a great story with great performances plus I got the added bonus of being able to relate to some of the characters. I think film is most rewarding when I’m not just staring at the screen looking at characters I don’t understand or sympathize with. That was not the case with this movie. There is so much to enjoy and learn from Phoebe’s journey of self-discovery.

Strangely there is no commentary or behind-the-scenes interviews. Just some previews and the film’s original trailer. The film is special enough that it doesn’t need extras but I would’ve liked to hear some insights from the cast and crew especially the screenwriter (on how he came up with the idea) and Elle Fanning (on what it was like to play such a complicated character). Despite the lack of features on the Phoebe In Wonderland DVD this is one of the best dramatic films I’ve seen this year and I’m recommending it to all the drama fans out there. This is great stuff.