Alias Grace

Alias Grace is a mini-series released on Netflix on November 3rd (though it started airing in Canada back in September).

Like The Handmaid’s Tale, it is a series based on a Margaret Atwood novel that came out in 1996 and the true story of Grace Marks.

It is about an woman named Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon) in the mid-1800s. At a young age (roughly 16) Grace was convicted for murder and 15 years later she is recounting her life, the murder included, to Dr. Jordan (Edward Holcroft) — who has come to Canada from the U.S. to try and better understand Grace, as well as possibly aid her release.

I was extremely captivated throughout the entirety of this show. Something about Grace was incredibly enthralling yet slightly disturbing. I watched it all in one day, I needed to know what happened and how and why.

After watching it there are still questions that I have, though I think that might be intentional.

Interesting themes that I noticed throughout were centered around the mistreatment of women, in way of abuse, harassment, and rape.

[I do my best to avoid spoilers in this paragraph, which is why there is very little elaboration on each moment] Grace came over from Ireland with her family, one member being her abusive father, to avoid detailed spoilers I’ll leave it there. A friend and coworker of hers is mistreated by a “gentlemen” and later Grace is also harassed by him, which pushes her to another home where she is unknowingly placed in a potentially dangerous situation. Grace even mentions in later episodes of the doctors at an asylum touching her inappropriately during her time there.

Overall, I loved watching this show. It was absolutely captivating and I am probably going to buy and read Margaret Atwood’s book and research the real Grace Marks, because it’s fascinating.