Alpha

Name: Alpha
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller, Family
Released: August 17, 2018
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 63
Cast: Jens Hultén, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kyle Glenn Thomas, Leonor Varela

2018

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 82 Ratings

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6.7

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6.7	Your Score
6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 82 Ratings

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Alpha (Trailer 2)

Movie Details & Credits

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: August 17, 2018

Starring: Jens Hultén, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kyle Glenn Thomas, Leonor Varela, Louis Lay, Marcin Kowalczyk, Mercedes de la Zerda, Michael Kruse-Dahl, Morgan Freeman, Natassia Malthe, Nestor de la Zerda, Patrick Flanagan, Priya Rajaratnam, Spencer Bogaert

Summary: Europe, 20,000 years ago. While on his first hunt with his tribe’s most elite group, a young man is injured and left for dead. Awakening to find himself broken and alone -- he must learn to survive and navigate the harsh and unforgiving wilderness. Reluctantly taming a lone wolf abandoned by its pack, the pair learn to rely on each otherEurope, 20,000 years ago. While on his first hunt with his tribe’s most elite group, a young man is injured and left for dead. Awakening to find himself broken and alone -- he must learn to survive and navigate the harsh and unforgiving wilderness. Reluctantly taming a lone wolf abandoned by its pack, the pair learn to rely on each other and become unlikely allies, enduring countless dangers and overwhelming odds in order to find their way home before the deadly winter arrives.… Expand

Director: Albert Hughes

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller, Family

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 96 min

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Awards & Rankings

80	#80 Most Shared Movie of 2018

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Critic Reviews

The Observer (UK) - Wendy Ide

Aug 26, 2018

This Albert Hughes-directed adventure is visually stunning. Read full review

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) - Brad Wheeler

Aug 16, 2018

There’s something delightfully clever in a narrative that is easily transferable to modern times. Speaking of which, seeing Alpha on as big and splashy a screen as possible is advisable, preferably with children who can handle occasional scenes of intense peril. Read full review

San Francisco Chronicle - David Lewis

Aug 17, 2018

From time to time, there are the requisite cutesy boy-and-his-wolf moments, but for the most part, the film is harrowing, suspenseful and gritty — and a perfect vehicle for impressive 3-D effects that bring to life an exquisitely beautiful but unforgiving land. Read full review

Film Journal International - Stephen Whitty

Aug 16, 2018

The movie...is a visual feast, one of the rare 3D films which was clearly designed with that extra dimension in mind. Read full review

Boston Globe - Tom Russo

Aug 15, 2018

The stylishly crafted film mostly succeeds in its engaging (and tagline-ready) ambition to chronicle “how mankind discovered man’s best friend,” even if its naturalistic strengths are swapped out for an exaggeratedly epic tone in the later going. Read full review

The Guardian - Peter Bradshaw

Aug 23, 2018

It is a bit silly, but is likable hokum. Read full review

Slant Magazine - Jake Cole

Aug 15, 2018

It reduces the domestication of wolves to a series of simplistic interactions that don’t exactly convey the difficulties of a wild animal overcoming millennia of instinct. Read full review

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User Reviews

foolish_mortal

Nov 25, 2018

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Mankind and Man's Best Friend team up together to fight the real enemy - cats!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

sassymah

Aug 31, 2018

Alpha is a beautiful movie that depicts a hypothetical story about how the bond between humans & dogs evolved ( with a narrative about a prehistoric boy named Keda and a wolf). It is a must see for animal lovers. The film deserves to make back its production budget and should be viewed onAlpha is a beautiful movie that depicts a hypothetical story about how the bond between humans & dogs evolved ( with a narrative about a prehistoric boy named Keda and a wolf). It is a must see for animal lovers. The film deserves to make back its production budget and should be viewed on the big screen to truly appreciate it. Chuck, who plays Alpha, did a great job. The cinematography is gorgeous and deserves an Oscar nomination. The scenes with Alpha will warm your heart. There is some heart-pounding action, suspense, tragedy, but ultimately has a happy ending. It is an excellent survival story that illustrates the power, courage, and strength of people as well as animals to overcome adversity to live. I definitely loved this movie far more than The Revenant.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MasterRiley

Aug 29, 2018

Alpha takes place 20,000 years ago during the last ice age. It tells a really touching story about the relationship between a young man and a wolf who must rely on each other in order to survive. It has some really good performances from the actors, beautiful scenery and cinematography, andAlpha takes place 20,000 years ago during the last ice age. It tells a really touching story about the relationship between a young man and a wolf who must rely on each other in order to survive. It has some really good performances from the actors, beautiful scenery and cinematography, and a lot of heart and emotion through the relationship between the man and the wolf. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys movies with heartfelt stories.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

TVJerry

Aug 20, 2018

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the original story of a boy and his dog. It's set 20,000 years ago, when members of a tribe set off to hunt for food. Thru an unfortunate but spectacular accident, the chief's son finds himself alone…until he helps a wounded wolf and they bond on the perilous trek thru the unrelenting wilds. While there are giant leaps in logic and time (such quick healing!), there's an affecting charm to the story. It's made more effective by Albert Hughes' striking directorial touches and the impressive scenery. Unlike the event itself, this isn't a breakthru movie, but it tells the origin story of dog/man companionship with affection and epic beauty.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

JLuis_001

Aug 29, 2018

It is a bit strange to see a film with this kind of structure and cinematographic quality considering that in the end it's simply a story about domesticated wolves and therefore what would eventually become the domesticated dog. It seems like too much trouble for such a thin storyline.

KodiIt is a bit strange to see a film with this kind of structure and cinematographic quality considering that in the end it's simply a story about domesticated wolves and therefore what would eventually become the domesticated dog. It seems like too much trouble for such a thin storyline.

Kodi Smit-McPhee delivers a solid interpretation but as I said the story is not the strong element of this film because in the end it's just a story of survival spliced with the bond between a young man and an animal. The interesting thing is in the time in which the story takes place.

The cinematography is excellent although there are times when you notice the CGI and it's bad but most of its running time it looks pretty good.

I can say that I do recommend it, although I must emphasize that you should not expect something remarkable.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

TrevorsView

Aug 24, 2018

It starts with a seed, something that without its gardener, has no good use. Following that growth process, Alpha shows what happens that planted seedling must go out past its garden patch to benefit more than just its maturation process through the fruits that it blooms. It may be a lemon,It starts with a seed, something that without its gardener, has no good use. Following that growth process, Alpha shows what happens that planted seedling must go out past its garden patch to benefit more than just its maturation process through the fruits that it blooms. It may be a lemon, it may be a pitaya, but however the fruit strikes your taste buds, there some nutritional benefit here for you.

Its emotional impact is planted right when a young boy named Keda is thrown off a cliff during a buffalo attack led by the rest of his tribe. Unlike what the others believes, Keda survives this near-death experience, thus must rely on the stars’ direction to point his way back home. Keda then spares an attacking wolf’s life, which he names Alpha, the name for a wolf pack’s leader. His hospitality sparks a relationship like a dog attached to its owner, a symbiotic relationship seen across nature that sure enough becomes the genesis of where man’s best friend came from.

However, the passive question and answer dialogue still leaves the seedlings of this picture sun-scorched too harshly, which of course make the resulting product more noticeably flawed. It also leaves the editing much to be desired, particularly in consideration of the film’s unnecessary prologue, which depicts a scene repeated exactly later. Once the feature sways away from characters talking to each other and more about Keda by his lonesome, the repetitive pattern in the narrative follows a manner of conflict, survival, conflict, survival. Especially as it gets closer to the end, the scenario takes a monotonous toll much like the way summer’s heat makes you anticipate autumn.

But it allows room for the technicality to prowess; the powerful sound design stays quiet to give a feel of always present death, letting only nature strike whatever. Case in point: thunder roars against super bright lightning flashes louder than the immortal tribal drums heard. While such sounds of nature may be as pleasant to hear as dirt may be to taste, the environment progresses the maturation of our protagonist as it closes deeper onto his brush with death. So yes, it takes a while for these evocative moments to water viewers with the value of the world… but what a world it is! If nothing else, your mind will be blown by the outstandingly clear cosmic views that illuminate what allows survival, which increases the impact of snow that washes out Keda’s ability to look beyond himself. So long story short, his manhood journey is truly a big screen must see.

The world construction really helps the stem bloom its leaves, complete from the way director Albert Hughes makes fireflies look almost like spiritual guides against the night. Then also, an active volcano appears like Mother Earth’s blood boiling to turn all life into ashes, a type of visual poetry to illustrate un-creation, or life destruction for life to sustain, further complemented when one man eats ants from his hand.

These provocative visuals still look much more comforting though than how Keda must eat a worm, then a fly, then maggots, to survive the wilderness. To illustrate true vitality that tests his skill, a solar eclipse reveals how nature must follow its course, even if it consequently inconveniences all other life. A spectacular time-lapse speed through a path complements these moments of seasonal progression, a stylistic choice that knows when to slow down, especially when it’s time to watch a bird flock form patterns against the sunrise.

As part of the necessary life destruction he learns, Keda struggles to make fire as a combat against the darkness. Concerning Keda is the chief’s son who has much to live up to, he sees the reality that he won’t always have mommy and daddy there to correct his mistakes. Before, he partook in an arrowhead construction pass/fail test around a campfire, but now, he must rely singlehandedly on rock pillars scattered around the land by his ancestors, whom his people believe are now in the sky to guide back home through the northern lights and stars.

Not everyone will feel shaken though, as this plant of a story grows taller, some viewers may see a flower undeserving of their living room vase. With monotonous events that feel carried out by mostly flat characterizations, a stick even be needed to straighten the stem out, with fruits malnourished of a reason to care about the tribe’s existential culture. Then comes the ending, or maybe I should say three endings, because just when the film seems to end, another scene stretches any patience, much like The Return of the King, except here diminishing the moral rather than closing any loose ends.

It means that Alpha contributes mostly a provider of seeds to plant other hopeful cinematic artists more wisdom to start the circle all over again. While Albert Hughes’ plant may wither quite quickly, and its fruits may rot before you notice, it certainly makes homey temporary decorations.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Twopir

Aug 25, 2018

Not a good film. So many things are jarringly inaccurate that I simply couldn’t finish the film. From the clothes to the decisions that are made by the protagonist. To put it simply, he would have eaten the wolf, not made it a pet.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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