Alice in Wondertown

Alice was confined at the Sanatorio Maravillas de Noveras for reeducation after exhibiting rebellious behavior that violated the city’s official rules. The sanatorium functions as an institution where dissent is punished through ideological conditioning, reflecting the film’s critique of coercive control over citizens who challenge authoritarian norms.

The opening escape immediately establishes the oppressive nature of the regime she seeks to flee.

While Alice rode in the back of a pickup truck escaping the sanatorium, a cloaked figure identified as the Compañero Director attacked her. During the struggle, the Director was knocked overboard and fell from the high bridge as the truck continued moving. This incident became the foundation for the murder accusation against Alice.

The violent confrontation foreshadows Alice’s later confrontations with authority figures in Maravillas.

The body disappeared under mysterious circumstances, which allowed the murder charges against Alice to be dropped. The disappearance is never fully explained within the film, but it serves to undermine the official narrative and leaves the truth ambiguous. This plot device shifts the story from a murder mystery into Alice’s flashback narration of her experiences in Maravillas.

The unresolved mystery establishes early that truth is malleable under the regime’s control.

Maravillas, meaning "Wondertown," is the small town where Alice is sent after the sanatorium incident. It functions as an allegorical space mirroring real Cuban society, where a supernatural mayor wields absolute control over every aspect of life. The town’s surreal, oppressive atmosphere adapts the fantasy world of Alice in Wonderland into a critique of indoctrination, coercion, and absolutism.

The name itself signals the film’s connection to Carroll’s work while subverting it into political satire.

The supernatural mayor is an enigmatic figure who holds absolute authority over Maravillas, controlling every aspect of the townspeople’s lives. The mayor represents the oppressive regime itself, a faceless, omnipresent power that enforces obedience through fear and magical or inexplicable means. This figure forces exiles, teachers, black market traders, and even a disgraced priest into brittle submission.

The mayor’s control over the town mirrors the sanatorium’s control over Alice, reinforcing the film’s theme of systemic oppression.

Residents of Maravillas are exiled for violating the town’s strict rules, which are enforced by the supernatural mayor. Those exiled include a school teacher (El Maestro), black market traders, lazy service workers, and a disgraced priest. Their exile demonstrates how the regime maintains control, by removing anyone who does not conform to the official narrative or who threatens the established order.

The pattern of exile mirrors the sanatorium’s reeducation of Alice, showing repetition of oppressive mechanisms.

Alice transforms from a compliant individual who accepted authorities without question into someone who actively questions and doubts the narratives presented by those in power. Her maturation occurs through the surreal experiences in Maravillas, where she witnesses the coercive systems controlling the town. By the end, she no longer blindly trusts authority and gains the critical thinking necessary to navigate between illusion and reality.

Her initial escape from the sanatorium represents the first crack in her obedience, which deepens in Maravillas.

The film draws on the structure and tone of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland while transforming it into political satire. Just as Alice falls down a rabbit hole into a strange world with absurd rules, Alice enters Maravillas, a surreal town where reality bends under authoritarian pressure. The allegory uses Carroll’s fantasy framework to critique indoctrination, coercion, and absolutist governance, making the familiar story a lens for examining Cuban society.

The title and Alice’s name signal the adaptation from the opening scene.

The murder mystery frame, where Alice is accused of killing the Director, serves as the narrative catalyst for her flashback. By starting with this unresolved accusation, the film establishes an atmosphere of doubt and investigation. The missing body and dropped charges allow the story to shift focus from solving a crime to exploring Alice’s memories of Maravillas, making the frame a structural device that invites viewers to question official narratives throughout.

The framing device reminds viewers that truth is contested from the very beginning.

Alice escapes not through physical flight alone, but through a psychological transformation, she sheds her naïve faith in authority and learns to question those in power. This internal shift allows her to see through the illusions of Maravillas and find a path back to the real world. The film suggests that true escape comes from critical awareness rather than simply running away from the oppressive system.

Her growing skepticism throughout Maravillas prepares her for this final departure.