Review of Julia Ducournau’s Film Alpha

Julia Ducournau’s latest film, Alpha, comes across as confusing and quite disappointing in the context of this year’s Cannes festival. Even a sincere performance by Melissa Boros fails to save it.

I get that opinions about Ducournau’s previous work, Parmedore Titan, might vary since its release in 2021, but that film possessed a vibrant sense of purpose that Alpha lacks. Ducournau’s impressive 2016 debut, Raw, also had a clarity that seems missing here.

Body horror, which is a signature element of Ducournau’s films, is central again, and it feels like we’re in a sort of alternate reality that mixes the present with the recent past. Some aspects even seem to harken back to the time before France adopted the Euro in 2002.

In Alpha, we follow a 13-year-old girl, played by Boros, who comes from a Moroccan-French background. She finds herself involved with the king and returns home one night with a letter and a tattoo on her arm. This moment hints at a rebellious spirit, although it fades quickly.

Her mother, a doctor, is overwhelmed at the hospital due to a strange new illness. Yet, despite chaos just outside, Ducournau opts not to show any stringent hygiene measures. This suggests that society may be grappling with its own set of issues, with doctors and nurses navigating patient lines in a seemingly calm manner.

The film appears to reference broader issues like AIDS or Covid, but it doesn’t come off as particularly convincing or frightening, either in its specifics or in its broader implications. There is a nod to themes of addiction, especially through Alpha’s brother, Amin, whose struggles complicate Alpha’s life.

As for Alpha, her visible tattoos and constant bandaging lead to her being bullied in school, where she’s both a target and part of the wider culture of misogyny and homophobia present in her environment.

Unfortunately, the disjointed and often humorless narrative fails to engage, leaving everything feeling rather tedious and unoriginal. Each dialogue and scene feels overdone, pushing the emotional dial to 11, which ultimately makes the movie feel redundant. Ducournau really needs to reconnect with the sharp precision and authenticity that defined Raw.