The Book, The Film, The T-Shirt
  • Home
  • News
  • Features
  • Movies
  • Books
  • TV
  • Gaming
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
Movies 0

Alpha Review

By Dave Griffiths @goodbaduglyshow · On September 26, 2018


The Gist

Set during pre-white history in Europe Alpha follows a young tribal member, Keda (Kodi Smit-McPhee – Let Me In, The Road), who is at the awkward stage of his life. He is on the verge of becoming a man… something that is of course held in a lot higher esteem in tribal culture to what it is today, but still very much has the innocence of a child. Making Keda’s journey into manhood even more difficult is that his father, Tau (Johannes Haukur Johannesson – Atomic Blonde, Game Of Thrones), is the tribe’s leader and both he and the tribe expect Keda to become the next great warrior, leader and hunter. The problem is Keda is nothing like his father… he has a soft heart and lacks that ‘killer’ instinct.

Sensing an urgency to push his son into manhood and prove his worth to the tribe Tau ignores the concerns of his wife, Rho (Natassia Malthe – Elektra, DOA), and initiates  Keda into the tribe before taking him on the annual Great Hunt – a dangerous mission that it seems not everybody is destined to return from. After Keda then becomes separated from the rest of the hunting party, in a violent and creative way, he must then use all the skills that his father has taught him to survive while befriending a wolf that should technically be his greatest enemy.

 

The Review

Trailers! They make or break a movie. Often in my reviews I have talked about the fact that a trailer has spoiled a movie for me – either by giving away all the gags of a film, or committing the even worse crime of ruining the suspense of a film by giving away spoilers. With Alpha though the trailer did exactly what it should do – and that is make me want to see the film. Of course seeing that the film was held up in production for over a year beyond its original release date, that made seeing the trailer and wanting to see the film straight-away absolute torture.

On the surface Alpha plays out as your traditional Disney boy-meets-dog story. A lost boy meets a stray dog and the two become unlikely friends, it is a story that we have seen many times in cinema. What makes this film so different is the setting and the fact that Albert Hughes (The Book Of Eli, From Hell) is in the director’s chair. This may be the first time that Hughes has worked on a feature film without his brother by his side but Alpha has the stark and dark beauty that the Hughes Brothers have managed to capture in all their films. Alpha is a dire film, around every corner is a new danger that has the potential to kill Keda or any member of his tribe. It is also a cold and unrelenting climate that never gives humanity a break yet somehow Hughes manages to make it so hauntingly beautiful up on the big screen that I found myself disappointed that we weren’t seeing it in IMAX. The knack of doing this seems to be a Hughes’ trait as we saw him and his brother do exactly the same thing with the apocalyptic landscape of The Book Of Eli.

The beauty of Alpha does distract you from the fact that the storyline of Alpha is simple at best. Amazing landscapes and epic night skies seem to enhance the suspense throughout the film and while Hughes and his screenwriter, first time writer Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt, always manage to come up with creative ways to place Keda’s life in danger the film does dip quickly towards the end with what feels like a satisfying if not rushed finale. And despite the fact that I did enjoy the film it does feel like something is missing. Throughout the film it feels like something is being set up that will see trouble stirred up for Tau by his right-hand man, Sigma (Marcin Kowalczyk – You Are God, The Lure) but nothing ever eventuates giving the feeling that perhaps something was edited out. That feeling is further enhanced by the fact that all the adult characters seem to just disappear, apart from a dream sequence, during the time that Keda must begin his relationship with Alpha.

The funny thing about Alpha being a coming-of-age story for Keda is that the film itself feels like a coming-of-age vehicle for Kodi Smit-McPhee. Film lovers have grown up watching Smit-McPhee on the screen. Yes he has put in some powerful performances in films like the gripping Matching Jack and films with wide appeal like The Road and Let Me In, but he has always been seen as a child actor. Even playing Nightcrawler in the Marvel universe has not been able to shake that stigma, here though it seems Smit-McPhee has been re-invented as a man. He is the same gritty actor but seems ready to take on more adult roles in Hollywood.

 

The Verdict

Alpha is an amazing film, in fact in places the director has made this look like a work of art. Cinematic landscapes and amazing CGI make the film feel historically accurate and work of beauty. There have also been some brave choices that have made Alpha a better film as well. The choice not to have the actors speak English gives more feeling to its authenticity but also seems like Hollywood has finally realised that subtitles are more than okay. Alpha could be one of the surprise hits of 2018. It’s dark beauty reveals there is more to Albert Hughes as a director than we knew and also shows that Kodi Smit-McPhee is still one of the most promising actors in Hollywood.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)

Related

Alpha Review
Dave Griffiths
September 26, 2018
4/10
4 Overall Score

ActionAdventureAlbert HughesAlphaJohannes Haukur JohannessonKodi Smit-McPheeNatassia MaltheThriller
Share Tweet

Dave Griffiths

Dave Griffiths has worked as a journalist for over twenty years now -covering topics including film, television, music, travel and sport (with a main focus on AFL Football). That time has seen him host the popular X-Wired television program for seven seasons as well as write for various magazines such as Buzz Magazine, Heavy Mag, Stage Whispers, The Banner and Eternity.. He has even branched out into writing online for Subculture Entertainment, Media Search and The Book The Film The T-Shirt. He also worked as the online editor for Entertainment 360 for three years. Dave's radio work has seen him work on various radio stations including 3RPP, Triple R and Light FM. He is currently the resident film reviewer on Sydney's 2UE radio station and can be heard reviewing what is new at cinemas and on DVD each week on Wednesdays at 3pm with Ed Phillips. He is also the co-host of Melbourne's 94.1FM's breakfast show 'The Motley Crew' and he can sometimes be heard on J-Air's 'First On Film'. David is also the co-host of two popular podcasts - ‘The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Film Show,' and 'The Popcorn Conspiracy' As far as Film Reviewing goes David is an elected committee member of AFCA (Australian Film Critics Association and a member of IPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics)/FIPRESCI (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique). He has also served as a jury member for a number of international film festivals and is considered an expert on cult cinema, horror movies and Australian films.

You Might Also Like

  • Movies

    HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Review

  • Movies

    THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME Review

  • Movies

    KARATE KID: LEGENDS Review

No Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe & Follow

Follow @thebookthefilm
Follow on Instagram
  • Popular
  • Comments
  • Tags
  • The Rise of Lockdown Streaming

    May 3, 2020
  • Salvo (2014)

    September 27, 2014
  • Penny Dreadful S1 EP 3 ‘Resurrection’ & EP 4 ‘Demimonde’ Review

    June 22, 2014
  • Pet Movie

    Spoiler Alert – Top 5 Horror Movie Twists

    March 17, 2017
  • warner bros. for her dvd collection

    Christmas Gift Guide: For Her – Heart Warming DVDs

    December 14, 2016
  • Win a copy of The Apartment on Limited Edition Blu-ray Courtesy of Arrow Academy

    December 23, 2017
David Griffiths marvel Ben Affleck J.K. Simmons Amy Adams Jai Courtney Lee Griffiths Hugh Jackman Chris pratt Scarlett Johansson Jason Clarke Daniel Craig Kyle McGrath Emilia Clarke Henry Cavill keanu reeves benedict cumberbatch Sky Atlantic
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Disclosure

ABOUT

Over opinionated and online. The Book, The Film, The T-Shirt was created for lovers of entertainment everywhere. We hope you enjoy it. Don't feed the writers after midnight.

Latest News

  • LONG BRIGHT RIVER – Amanda Seyfried Interview

    June 15, 2025
  • SNATCHERS – Craig Alexander & Shelly Higgs Interview

    June 14, 2025
  • 5

    HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Review

    June 12, 2025

SEARCH THE SITE

HIBS100 Index of Home and Interior Blogs
HIBS100

© 2016 Last Exit to Hollywood Media Limited. All rightsreserved. “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”