There are very few films made about the Prehistoric Era that are decent, let alone realistic. "Alpha," while a flawed movie, manages to mostly succeed in showing life in the Paleolithic; the film deserves in honestly about a 6.5/10, but its strengths just about exceed its flaws, raising it to a 7/10.

What "Alpha" does well is to show the harshness and brutality of life in the Paleolithic Era. It was incredibly difficult to survive for nearly all of human history let alone 20,000 years ago, and the movie shows this and the roles of people in those societies to believable levels. The importance of rituals and the reliance on hunting are demonstrated clearly and quite accurately. Thankfully for a film of the 21st century, "Alpha" also manages to avoid the inaccuracies and ideological drivel many shows and movies spout today, for example forcing women into masculine roles, showing how hierarchies didn't exist before capitalism, or pretending life was a harmonious perfection with nature before the modern era. All of those things are absolute nonsense to anyone with an inkling of historical knowledge; gender roles were well-defined and incredibly similar in nearly all societies across the entire planet in Prehistoric times (and well after), disproving the lie of the 'western patriarchy'. Hierarchies and inequalities in human societies existed as far back as archaeologists can investigate, and certainly are not a result of capitalism (indeed, capitalism has reduced them more than can even be fathomed). So, it's refreshing to see none of that nonsense thrust into a historical portrayal today.

What "Alpha" does not do as well is the action, which is quite over-the-top and overly dramatic, making it very tough to believe at times. It is a movie and it is fairly exciting, so that can be forgiven to an extent, but along with the already-outdated CGI it does take away from the film. The story is also a bit ridiculous, but it is heartfelt and engaging enough to mostly succeed.