Alpha parents guide

Alpha Parent Guide

Can a teen who "leads with his heart, not his spear" survive in a prehistoric wilderness? Expect a slow answer to that question.

Overall B+

20,000 years ago, as Earth descended into a an Ice Age, a teen boy befriended a wolf. This is the story of their epic adventure.

Release date August 17, 2018

Violence B
Sexual Content A
Profanity A
Substance Use A

Why is Alpha rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Alpha PG-13 for some intense peril.

Run Time: 97 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

Alpha is a slow movie. I don’t mean that as a criticism but as a statement of fact. Alpha moves at a deliberate pace, gradually unfolding the plot, carefully building up relationships between the human and animal characters, and lovingly sweeping over its awe-inspiring locations in Canada and Iceland. Filmgoers looking for action or comedy will be disappointed. However, those who enjoy a survival story, quietly told, might enjoy this prehistoric tale of a boy and his dog.

The story begins 20,000 years ago in Ice Age Europe. Humans live in scattered tribes, hunting to survive in their harsh climate. Our protagonist, Keda (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is the son of Tau, the chief, played with dignified assurance by Johannes Haukur Johannesson. It is time for the annual buffalo hunt, and Keda is finally old enough to join the other hunters and become a man. Keda’s mother (Natassia Malthe) is worried about her son’s readiness. “He leads with his heart. Not his spear,” she says. Tau is convinced that her worries are needless. “He is stronger than you know,” he tells her. “He is even stronger than he knows.”

Tau’s assurance is tested quickly. Early in the hunt, it becomes apparent that Keda is unable to light a fire and that he is too soft-hearted to kill an animal. Soon after Keda’s embarrassing failures, the hunters catch up with their prey. As they stampede the animals to the edge of the cliff, Keda is caught by one of the bison and goes over the side. Given up for dead by his tribe, Keda awakens alone, with a broken ankle, trapped on a narrow cliff ledge. His father is not there to save him: all he has are his own wits to help him survive.

Luckily for Keda, aid comes in an unexpected package when he is stalked by wolves and knifes one of the creatures in the leg. The teen develops a sense of fellow feeling for the injured animal, who he names Alpha, and nurses it back to health. Played by a Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Chuck, Alpha is one of the real stars of this movie, emoting with its eyes and body language. The relationship that develops between Keda and Alpha is critical to their mutual survival.

When it comes to family viewing, Alpha has some unusual considerations. It is almost entirely free of objectionable content, aside from hunting-related violence and situations of extreme danger. That being said, this film is not likely to be a smash hit with family audiences. Its biggest drawback for kids and teens comes from its dialogue. Spoken in an invented Cro-Magnon language, the film is subtitled throughout. Kids who don’t read well and anyone who finds subtitles distracting will not like this film. They may also be bored at the glacial pace of the plot. There are many, many minutes of characters trudging silently through a barren (albeit beautiful) landscape. On the flip side, filmgoers of any age who enjoy survival movies, history or nature documentaries, and who are prepared to be patient, will find their niche with Alpha.

Directed by Albert Hughes. Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Leonor Varela, Natassia Malthe. Running time: 97 minutes. Theatrical release August 17, 2018. Updated

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Alpha
Rating & Content Info

Why is Alpha rated PG-13? Alpha is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for some intense peril.

Violence:

There is a lot of hunting related violence – animals being speared, stabbed with knives, and shot with arrows. Humans and animals both suffer injuries and blood is shown. Bison are stampeded off a cliff as part of a hunt. A young man is dragged away from a fire and devoured by an unseen animal: This occurs at night, so nothing is visible to the audience. Teenage boys beat up other boys: the action is blurred in the background but bloody noses are seen afterwards. The protagonist is attacked by more than one wild animal.

Sexual Content:

A wolf delivers pups. (No explicit material is seen.)

Profanity:

None noted.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None noted.

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Alpha Parents' Guide

Stampeding animals off cliffs is a traditional hunting style that was also practiced by First Nations people in North America. The Canadian province of Alberta is home to the Head- Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site, a major interpretive center that preserves and teaches about the culture of Alberta’s Blackfoot tribe and other Plains tribes.

Loved this movie? Try these books…

​Books about kids and dogs are timeless favourites. Kids who love dogs can try Kate Di Camillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie. Readers who choose Fred Gipson’s classic Old Yeller or Wilson Rawls’ Where the Red Fern Grows better make sure they have tissues handy for the emotional conclusions. Older teens will enjoy the realism of Jack London’s The Call of the Wild and White Fang, set in the forbidding environment of Alaska and the Yukon respectively.

Beginning readers will have fun with Gene Zion’s series about Harry the Dirty Dog.

Older teens will likely enjoy The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. This dog is a bit of a philosopher who has studied people closely. There is some upsetting content in the book, including the death of a major character and a child custody battle, as well as implied sexual activity between a married couple. But the novel also delivers powerful messages of love and loyalty.

News About "Alpha"

This movie was formerly call" The Solutrean".

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Alpha movie is November 13, 2018. Here are some details…

Related home video titles:

The 2016 version of The Jungle Book is another computer animated/live action tale that features a boy who was raised by wolves. White Fang depicts a more-modern teen who endures arctic temperatures with the help of a loyal wolf-dog. And Ice Age presents a more comical story of survival for a group of animal and a human baby. 

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