Alpha (2018, Albert Hughes)

I absolutely loved this film. Thoughts? I immediately hit up Amazon and bought it after viewing, which I only do when I am so moved by a picture. I had my eyes on it since the trailer as I adore wolves, so this was a very satisfying experience.

Very intrigued by the blu ray special features, mostly the alternate opening/ending. Library rental had a vignette about the wolf dog actor (ha-ha) and a brief making-of but looking forward to this other bit. I had my wife look into the history the five year script was based on, and it’s neat that they did their homework on this Northern European tribe during the ice age.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solutrean_hypothesis

When I first started watching, I got some “white washing” vibes so it’s nice that this wasn’t actually the case. I told my wife it’s like The Revenant with a wolf, j/k, but I did like the cinematography honestly. Beautiful Canadian location usage, with several shots that I would love to have as a poster or screensaver for my computer/gaming consoles.

I also loved the twist, even if I have doubts about the validity of it. I thought wolves were monogamous, but perhaps there are cases in research that have proved otherwise. Emotionally moving twist for sure, nice themes of life and death and the in-between, but not too deep for sure. I teared up quite a lot, again being sentimental toward animals especially wolves, and that "pet" connection.

I could see it being viewed as simplistic plot-wise, and I mean, the characters are who they are from another time that is often regarded as a “simpler time” with nostalgic tone. I will also say the "flashback/backtrack" part in the beginning leading up to the premise was not needed, but maybe that was merely to fill time as this is not a long movie by any stretch. Looking forward to the alternate opening and director's cut included on the blu ray, for this reason.

I didn’t feel like Keda’s arc was complete, but I remember being that age and it taking some time. Kinda neat to see a flick not go full circle character evolution for a change, I suppose. Definitely not going to call Smit-McPhee merely “Nightcrawler” anymore (e.g. X-MEN), as he was nowhere near bad here. Not DiCaprio either, but let’s be clear: this ain’t an Innaritu joint.