The story centres around our main character of Kena (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who is the son of Tau (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) the chief of their tribe. He has recently come of age to hunt and despite his slight build and his timid attitude, his father sees an inner strength and believes he will step up when given the chance. When the hunt takes a bad turn, Kena is assumed dead but he survives by hanging off the side of a gorge. He's forced to fight a wolf pack and while he gets away, he injures one of them. Instead of killing it, he tries to befriend it and the two of them try to make the journey home. The plot of this movie is a beauty in the eye of the beholder situation. It's very streamlined, it doesn't get bogged down but at the same time... that's it. I found myself with the opinion that I appreciated the movie's simplicity but it relies too heavily on the great cinematography and long shots of the environment to fill out the run time.

Speaking of the cinematography, it's the real star of the movie. Despite the overuse of environmental shots (it skates around padding out the run time but only just), they were all gorgeous. The visual effects team pulls out a couple of tricks that really accentuate this obvious strength. Between the barren snowy environment, the grassy plains or the dingy caves , there wasn't a moment where something wasn't visually striking or eye-catching.

The cast of Alpha is small and the movie focuses mainly on 2 actors. I thought the stronger of the 2 performances was from Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as he looks closer to being period appropriate and he displays a lot of warmth despite being a stern father. I wouldn't throw awards in his direction but he definitely brought something to what could have been a very one note part. I think Kodi-Smit-McPhee did a solid job, he does as much as he can with the material. He seemed a little miscast but part of that may be the character, he just seemed a little soft for someone born into this harsh period in history. But he sells his relationship with this wolf and in the end he got the job done.

I have very little to criticize Alpha for because it doesn't have a whole lot else to say besides telling this story. I thought the passage of time was handled in a weird way, the movie jumps around with scenes featuring Keda and Alpha and the transitions are a little rough or fail to come together seamlessly. This seems like a stylistic choice however, so rough editing or intentional choice? You be the judge.

Alpha is a film that I can't find much wrong with it but I only ended up liking it instead of falling in love with it. The dynamic between Keda and Alpha is endearing and I want to credit the movie for showing the harsh and unforgiving environment in a way that looks beautiful while dangerous. I did want Keda to make it and despite the lack of a deeper story, I didn't lose focus or have any trouble paying attention. Alpha clears the bar it sets for itself and I enjoyed the 96 minutes I spent watching it. If the marketing for Alpha caught your eye, I think its worth a trip to the theatre, but if not I think this would be a good movie to catch on your preferred streaming service.