Alpha

Year: 2018
Director: Albert Hughes
Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Johannes Haukur Johannesson, Chuck the wolfdog


Plot: Set during the stone age in Europe. A young man gets separated from his tribe and left for dead after a bull hunting expedition goes wrong. He has to find his own way home, with only a wolf for company.


Review: Alpha is one half a survival story, and one half a dramatic story about a friendship between a human and a wolf. The fact that it is set during the stone age, complete with an unknown language with subtitles, makes it a bit more interesting.

Keda is a young man who follows his father and tribe on a hunting expedition as a rite of passage to adulthood. During the hunt, Keda is attacked by a large bull and thrown of a cliff. Presumed dead by his father and tribe, he is left behind to fend for himself. Keda now has to survive on his own, which he does with a little bit of help from a wolf he injured in self defence and nursed back to health.

Much like The Revenant, Alpha highlights the arduous challenge of surviving in the wild. In Keda's case, he has to brave an injured leg, wild animals, rough terrain and the freezing winter. Cinematographer Martin Gschlacht skillfully captures the vast and unforgiving wild of Alberta, Canada, standing in for Europe 20000 years ago. Director Albert Hughes does a good job in balancing between Keda's eventual rise from weak youth to brave man, and his relationship with Alpha the wolf. Alpha is initially portrayed as a hostile animal who sees Keda as prey, but it eventually learns to respect and love its new human friend.

Kodi Smit-McPhee is certainly an inspired choice for the role of Keda, and he does not disappoint. His acting and facial expressions are all spot on. Johannes Haukur Johannesson also scores as his father, who is both firm and loving. Credit must also go to Chuck the wolfdog who convincingly portrays Alpha.

My main gripe would be the rather slow pace, especially during the first act as the story takes its time to get started. Personally I wouldn't recommend this story to viewers who either want action sequences or get lethargic easily.

In the end, Alpha is a solid adventure drama that qualifies as good family entertainment, and a nice alternative to those who abhor horror or violence in other current movies currently screening. (7/10)