Overview
- Alpha is now in theaters, prompting a fresh round of reviews from major outlets.
- The film follows a 13-year-old, her physician mother, and an addicted uncle during a blood-borne plague called the Red Wind.
- Reviewers describe striking body-horror images, with a silvery rash and porcelain-like skin that hardens into statues.
- Many critics credit Julia Ducournau’s empathetic intent to revisit AIDS-era stigma, yet argue the overextended metaphors and jumbled chronology weaken the drama.
- Coverage diverges on framing, with the Los Angeles Times and RogerEbert placing the story in a 1990s AIDS parable as Polygon reads it through Gen Alpha and COVID echoes.