SyFy's Alice

Imagine a science fiction made-for-tv movie about a weird portal that takes you to a place where humans are harvested for their emotions. Add a whole bunch of Alice in Wonderland motif and imagery, and you have a good idea of what you're going to get with SyFy's miniseries, Alice.

The action begins when Alice's (Caterina Scorsone) not-very-longterm boyfriend (Philip Winchester) tries to give her a ring. She freaks out and he leaves, but when she finds that the ring was slipped into her pocket, she follows him to give it back and talk. Just in time to see him dragged away by some goons with white rabbits on their lapels.

Next thing she knows, she's through a looking glass and into a strange and very vertical world, where she's tagged as an "oyster" and boxed up. But being a savvy girl, she makes a quick escape, and finds possible help in the form of Hatter (Andrew Lee Potts).

(If only that was a blue police box instead of a red phone booth, they'd be fine.)

Hatter and Alice continue to make their way through Wonderland, meeting a cast of familiar yet slanted characters, from the White Knight (Matt Frewer) to the Queen of Hearts (Kathy Bates).
Above, check out the Happy Hearts Casino, where humans go to win big all the time! And as they win, their feelings get drained away. Or something nefarious and questionable.

The imagery was very cool, and of course I love spotting the references. It's not a straight up Alice in Wonderland retelling, but I'm not sure that could work in a sci-fi film. However, most of the elements are here, and seeing how they show up is half the fun.

I enjoyed this at least as much as Tin Man, so if you liked that, here's another one to check out. There are a bunch of special features on the SyFy site, so you can get a more in-depth idea of the imagery and the storyline over there.