Overview
- After a 2025 Cannes premiere that drew a standing ovation inside the Palais and split notices from critics, Alpha begins its theatrical rollout this week.
- Set in an alternate world, the film tracks a 13‑year‑old, her physician mother, and her heroin‑addicted uncle as a blood‑borne illness turns human tissue into marble that later crumbles.
- The cast features Mélissa Boros in the title role, Golshifteh Farahani as her mother, and Tahar Rahim as Amin, whose visceral turn has drawn special attention.
- Critics praise the striking imagery, from marble‑like bodies to sweeping red dust storms, while some fault a muddled story, a poorly integrated score by Jim Williams, and flat framing by cinematographer Ruben Impens.
- The Globe and Mail lauds the film’s intensity and emotional focus, while The Film Stage calls it half‑baked, and Ducournau describes her intent as a study of forgiveness shaped by memories of AIDS‑era stigma.