Yes, Alpha, the film that was once advertised to come out in September of last year has finally come to theaters. That’s typically a sign that a studio has little faith in a project, and tries to dump it on a weekend where it can hopefully gain some traction since the audience it’s targeting won’t bleed into the competition, in this case the rom-com, Crazy Rich Asians, and the R-rated actioner, Mile 22. It’s not always the case, but the lack of substantial marketing doesn’t help either. The whole boy-and-his-dog is also fairly well torn territory, but with the right approach, you can make a good movie out of anything.
Alpha takes place 20,000 years ago in what is modern day Europe. It follows Keda (Kodi Smit-McPhee), the only son of tribe leader, Tau (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson). He is being groomed as a future leader, but fails to show the courage and strength necessary to fulfill that role. However, a hunting expedition leads to Keda being pushed off a cliff by a bison, seemingly to his death. But he soon wakes up, his tribe has long gone, and he is forced to trek the hostile landscape and find his way back home. He is attacked by wolves, wounding one. But because he feels empathy for the creature, he decides to help the wolf, naming it Alpha (performed by a wolf dog named Chuck). They end up forming a bond, which serves to help the both of them on their journey ahead.
If you go into this expecting just another one of these kinds of movies, like the trailer below – which seems like it was ripped right out of the 90s – would suggest, you’ll be in for a surprise. The film is like a cross between The Revenant and The Good Dinosaur, minus all the dinosaurs, of course. It’s family friendly, but the threats of the environment and the animals that inhabit them are very real. Keda experiences a lot of pain, has to do a lot in order to survive, and the peril he goes through is palpable. Not only that, but the filmmaking itself is far more ambitious than I expected. Though, it shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise since it is directed by Albert Hughes of the Hughes Brothers (Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, The Book of Eli), and he has a story credit here as well, while the script is credited to Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt. One thing that’s been hidden in the marketing is the fact that there is no English spoken in the film. The characters speak some early language, and it’s all subtitled. But not only that, a good portion of the film is quiet, and has nothing spoken out loud, instead relying on purely visual storytelling.
Speaking of visual, the film is also profoundly beautiful. Hughes and his cinematographer, Martin Gschlacht, take advantage of the locations, delivering stylish landscape shots that make great use of contrast and the sense of scope. The film will have moments where it pretty much pauses so you can really bask in all the work the filmmakers put into framing and staging some of the shots. As a purely visual cinematic experience, Alpha is perhaps the most stunning and evocative I’ve seen this year so far.
It also helps that Kodi Smit-McPhee is great in the lead, and he was someone I have usually been indifferent towards. A film like this lives and dies with the execution of the lead performance, and he carries the film really well, and all while convincingly speaking a long dead language, and interacting with a dog (that is sometimes CG for certain sequences). It’s a physically and emotionally demanding performance, and despite his character not being the most well defined, beyond broad strokes, he does a good job at keeping the epic scale emotionally intimate.
Alpha doesn’t have the most original story, but it has such an unabashedly old fashioned, almost fable like quality to it, that I ultimately didn’t mind the simplicity of it. Plus, with the simplicity of its coming-of-stone-age conceit, the filmmakers are able to add on gorgeous stylistic flourishes that are joyously crafted, and it really makes you wish more filmmakers are willing to be this audacious with their imagery. I’d love to see more movies like this, and it angers me that it was released so unceremoniously. I can see this being a favorite for a lot of kids, given the emotionally affecting relationship at the center and the almost-but-not-totally grown up edge that the filmmakers have given it. This is a film that you should give a chance, especially on the biggest screen you can find. At least do it for Chuck, he was such a good boy.