A boy, a dog, a stirring adventure: Alpha is the latest addition to this enduringly popular sub-genre, which takes the key ingredients most recently seen in the futuristic Japan of Isle of Dogs and deploys them in prehistoric Europe, at the beginning of canine domestication.
Kodi Smit-McPhee stars as Keda, the only son of a tribal chief. On his first hunt, Keda is separated from his tribe and left for dead. Striking an initially uneasy alliance with a wounded wolf, Keda embarks on an epic journey home.
The story is simple: subtitled dialogue, in an unspecified ancient language, is basic; the tale is one of subsistence rather than spiritual insight. But this Albert Hughes-directed adventure is visually stunning. Sweeping shots of vast ice floes emphasise the insignificance of boy and animal; the scowling sky looms over them like a vengeful deity. And a special tail-wag for the canine acting here: when Alpha the wolf isn’t snarling and crunching through small animals, she’s a sweetie.
