Movie review
May 25, 2016 · 113 min · PG
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Alice Through the Looking Glass follows 22-year-old Alice Kingsleigh, who returns to Underland through a magical looking glass to help the Mad Hatter uncover the truth about his family by stealing the Chronosphere and traveling through time to prevent a past tragedy. In her Victorian-era life she faces pressure to marry and abandon her seafaring ways but chooses adventure instead. Light elements of female independence surface in the real-world framing scenes as Alice defies traditional expectations of marriage and propriety, remaining visible yet secondary to the central family, friendship, and fantasy adventure plot without modern activist messaging or identity politics.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Alice Through the Looking Glass.
Woke representation / casting
Casting aligns fully with the Victorian setting and Lewis Carroll source material with no forced diversity, race or gender swaps, or identity signaling.
Woke political dialogue
Brief real-world scenes depict Alice rejecting era-specific gender norms through personal choice and action, without ideological speeches, activist rhetoric, or modern political framing.
Identity-driven story themes
Recurring focus on Alice’s personal agency and independence as a female protagonist alongside family reconciliation and loyalty, integrated into the adventure without dominating or shifting into identity politics or social-justice framing.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The story lightly contrasts restrictive Victorian expectations with Alice’s free spirit as historical character motivation, not as a vehicle for modern institutional or cultural critique.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Original additions such as the Mad Hatter’s family backstory introduce no identity-based reinterpretations of established characters.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No meaningful backlash accused the film of pushing woke, activist, or left-wing messaging; reactions stayed centered on cinematic quality and source fidelity.
Creator track record context
Woolverton’s stated goal of creating empowering stories for young women aligns lightly with the independence motif but does not reflect a broader activist pattern across her or the team’s credits.
Production
