'Alpha' A Review

Alpha is a historical adventure movie about a small tribe of hunter-gatherers in Europe 20,000 years ago. The chief Tau(Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) leads the annual steppe bison hunt days journey from their village. He brings his son Keba(Kodi Smit-McPhee) along for the first time, part of his coming-of-age. After an injury Keba is left for dead and connects with an injured dire wolf. The two form a shaky alliance and begin the journey back home.

Jóhannesson is surprisingly understated and effective, all of the characters and performances have a surprising amount of sensitivity. There is an awareness of how brutal this existence must have been but there is no brutality. Smit-McPhee shoulders the bulk of the burden and a lot of his choices tend towards sulking but he's serviceable, doubly so given much of the movie is CGI and his canine co-star is also frequently digitized.

The narrative doesn't really go beyond what you see in the trailer, it's predictable but fun. There are some elements that could have been heightened, some interesting aspects that could have been leaned into, in order to take the story beyond what it is- relatively pedestrian. But even so there are some beautiful scenic shots, some cool prehistoric beasts, and the tale of the first doggo. It's tough not to enjoy.

Unsophisticated, a little on-the-nose, but entertaining.

Stream It.