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Alpha

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56% Tomatometer 98 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Alpha, a troubled 13-year-old lives with her single mom. Their world collapses the day she returns from school with a tattoo on her arm.
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Alpha

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Critics Consensus

Strong performances and a visually striking finale notwithstanding, Alpha ultimately frustrates with its unwieldy structure and imbalanced blend of fantastical and realistic elements.

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Critics Reviews

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Tim Grierson Los Angeles Times 3d
As “Alpha” reaches its stylish, dreamlike ending, she hits upon an absorbing final image that suggests the collective sorrow and emotional devastation our recent plague years have wrought. Go to Full Review
Katie Rife RogerEbert.com 6d
1.5/4
At times, 'Alpha’ plays like a Cronenbergian after-school special, in which the visual metaphors are overplayed, and the drama is broadly sketched to teach a moral lesson. Go to Full Review
Jeannette Catsoulis New York Times Mar 26
Softer and gentler than either of its forbears, “Alpha” hums with a dreamlike unease, a movie less concerned with sensation than with genuine feeling. Go to Full Review
Alan Zilberman Washington City Paper 21h
It introduces idea after idea without much care about how they might combine into something greater than its parts. The result is a muddling of styles, themes, and a sense that someone needed to help curb her worst impulses. Go to Full Review
Anna Hoang Boston Hassle 1d
Wherever place in her heart ALPHA traveled from, it’s enough to know Ducournau’s tenderness can be more compelling than gory infliction. Go to Full Review
Shelagh Rowan-Legg ScreenAnarchy 1d
5/5
Alpha is a body-beauty-horror-coming-of-age-accepting-loss film (seriously, so many ways to look at this film, all of them valid, and all of them blending in a mostly seamless tapestry that shows just how much love is possible in the world. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Cary 1d So complex and moving! Terrific acting! See more Kyle 1d While not like the previous films of Julia Docournau in terms of its ambiguity, it is no less powerful in terms of emotional weight. Well shot, and interesting twist towards the end makes for a great emotionally heart wrenching film. See more Roy J 2d Can't believe a 2-time Palme d'Or winner made this. Boring, messy, and amateurish. See more Ghederick Eshmont Mar 27 Julia Ducournau is amongst the world’s best filmmakers, though Alpha has some jagged edges & misfires, it’s still quite mesmerizing See more James Mar 27 Interesting Story that goes to Lynch-land See more Marc S @RT88027183 14h Another bizarre, incomprehensible and uninteresting film by Ducournau. Don’t waste your time and money as I did. I’m done with her films. See more Read all reviews
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Alpha

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Movie Info

Synopsis Alpha, a troubled 13-year-old lives with her single mom. Their world collapses the day she returns from school with a tattoo on her arm.
Director
Julia Ducournau
Producer
Éric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer
Screenwriter
Julia Ducournau
Distributor
NEON
Production Co
Mandarin et Compagnie, Kallouche Cinéma, Frakas Productions
Rating
R (Language|Drug Content|Sexual Material|Some Underage Drinking)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
French
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 27, 2026, Limited
Runtime
2h 2m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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