Review of Alpha (2018) by Luis S — 26 Oct 2018

If you like watching a timid semi heartthrob teenage boy learning to be a man in the wilderness, watch 2015's excellent "Slow West". In the 2018 film Alpha, the story is similar. But it is far less authentic and moving.

KODI SMIT-MCPHEE plays Keda, a prehistoric Hunter going for his first kill with his tribesmen. He gets lost and must learn to survive on his own. He meets an injured wolf and they hit it off and begin to help each other on the long grueling journey home.

The best scenes are in the middle of the movie between the boy and the Wolf. It's the usual, you know, wolf is afraid of boy and vice versa, they slowly begin to trust each other, boy tries to chase the wolf away so that he can go back to his pack, Wolf refuses to leave, and follows at an adorable distance.

Nothing new here, but entertaining and heartwarming. And teenage girls may enjoy looking at McPhee with his puppy dog appeal. Unfortunately, director Hughes doesn't get much in the way of acting from McPhee.

Also, the CG backdrops and wolf expressions don't look very good. The rocks and cliffs look like they were formed out of concrete and painted. Somewhat enjoyable for adults, more so for tweens.