Frankie & Alice

Frankie & Alice is a 2010 Canadian drama film directed by Geoffrey Sax, starring Halle Berry. Filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia, in November 2008, and ended in January 2009. To qualify for awards season, the film opened in a limited release on December 10, 2010. It is based on a true story about a popular go-go dancer/stripper in the 1970s who has dissociative identity disorder.

Plot
Frankie is performing at a Los Angeles club in 1973. She is one of the best strippers at the club, and often attracts the attention of wealthy businessmen. One night, the club's female employees go out for a "Girls Night". As the girls observe all the men at the bar, Frankie gets the attention of a well-known bartender. She agrees to go to his home for casual sex. Before the two can engage in any sexual activity, Frankie switches to an alter ego, and cracks the man's head open with a picture frame. Word of Frankie's violent activity spreads to the strip club quickly, and Frankie is fired from the needed job. The same manic episodes occur while Frankie is at the laundromat and a wedding.

Frankie starts psychiatric therapy with Doctor Oz. During a session, Frankie learns that she has two alters: Genius, a seven-year-old child; and Alice, a Southern white racist woman, whom Frankie struggles to overcome. Through regular sessions with Dr. Oz, Frankie begins to recall the traumatic events that led to her split personality. She realizes that, when she was a teenager, she was in love with a white man who died in a car accident while they were on the road. In the same session, she also uncovers the memory of the birth of her child. Moments after the birth, Frankie's mother realizes that the child is half-white, and kills it, thus triggering Frankie's personality to split.

After she watches the taped sessions, and puts everything together, Frankie begins the healing process, taking control of her life and semi-integrating the personalities that Dr. Oz assures her will always be present.

Cast

 * Halle Berry as Frankie/Genius/Alice
 * Vanessa Morgan as 16-year-old Frankie
 * Michayla McKenzie as 8-year-old Frankie
 * Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Joseph Oswald aka "Dr. Oz"
 * Phylicia Rashad as Edna Murdoch
 * Matt Frewer as Dr. Strassfield
 * Brian Markinson as Dr. Backman
 * Chandra Wilson as Maxine Murdoch
 * Katharine Isabelle as Paige Prescott
 * Emily Tennant as 16-year-old Paige
 * Megan Charpentier as 8-year-old Paige
 * Scott Lyster as Pete Prescott
 * Kira Clavell as Wanda
 * Joanne Baron as Nurse Susan Shaw

Release
It had a limited release in the United States on December 10, 2010, to qualify for awards. The film had a wide theatrical release on April 4, 2014.

Reception
Frankie and Alice received negative reviews from critics. It currently holds a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus: "Halle Berry gives it her all (and then some), but Frankie & Alice is ultimately too narratively strained and clumsily assembled to do her performance justice."

There were positive responses. Following a screening at the Cannes Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a well-wrought psychological drama that delves into the dark side of one woman's psyche". The review also said Halle Berry was "spellbinding" as Frankie, with "rock-solid" supporting performances.

Awards and nominations

 * African-American Film Critics Association
 * Nominee, Best Picture
 * Winner, Best Actress: Halle Berry
 * Golden Globes
 * Nominee, Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama: Halle Berry
 * NAACP Image Awards
 * Winner, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Halle Berry
 * Winner, Outstanding Independent Motion Picture
 * Prism Award
 * Winner, Performance in a Feature Film: Halle Berry