ALPHA

(director/writer: Julia Ducournau; cinematographer: Ruben Impens; editor: Jean-Christophe Bouzy; music: Jim Williams; cast: Mélissa Boros (Alpha), Golshifteh Farahani (Mother), Tahar Rahim (Uncle Amin), Emma Mackey (Hospital Nurse), Finnegan Oldfield (English Teacher), Frédéric Bayer Azem (Compagnon Professor of English), Louai El Amrousy (Adrien); Runtime: 128; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altamayer, Arnaud Chautard, Jean-Rachid Kallouche; Neon; 2026-France-in French with English subtitles)

“Dreadful allegorical coming-of-age body-horror genre film.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

French filmmaker Julia Ducournau (“Raw”/”Titane”) brings us this dreadful allegorical coming-of-age body-horror genre film, that’s set in the 1980s during the time of AIDS.


The thirteen-year-old Alpha (Mélissa Boros) is from a Moroccan-French family living in Le Havre, with her single doctor mother (Golshifteh Farahani) and mom’s drug-addicted brother Amin (Tahar Rahim). By coming home one night from a party with the letter A tattooed on her arm, given to her without her approval by her not dependable boyfriend Adrien (Louai El Amrousy). Mom not only hates the tattoo but worries that a dirty infectious needle was used for the homemade job.

Mom’s hospital has an outbreak of a new weird disease turning those inflicted with it into a marble-white statue.

This premise brings about an overwrought and tedious tale about society blaming the homosexuals and needle using drug-addicts for this disease, and blaming the victims for ruining the country.

Nothing adds up in this muddled satirical story to make much sense, as it’s also humorless, tedious and over-the-top. There’s much that can be said about the AIDS epidemic, but what’s said here is meaningless.

It played at the Cannes Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 4/14/2026  GRADE: C-
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