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Julia Ducournau’s Alpha Opens in Theaters With a Visceral AIDS Allegory

Rooted in Ducournau’s 1990s memories, the film treats a body‑changing epidemic as a personal drama.

Overview

  • Alpha reaches cinemas on November 21 after competing at Cannes without awards and inaugurating the Sitges Festival.
  • Critics highlight austere, desaturated visuals and powerful performances, especially Mélissa Boros and a gaunt Tahar Rahim.
  • Reviews praise the striking depiction of bodies turning marble‑like while noting moments of narrative confusion and uneven flow.
  • The story follows a 13‑year‑old, her doctor mother, and a recovering heroin‑using uncle as a stigma‑laden illness spreads.
  • Ducournau says the movie is not horror but a drama about love, conceived to process fears she associates with the 1990s AIDS peak.