Enter a Rotten Tomatoes movie slug to inspect the stored movie, batches, snapshots, and reviews.
Movie ID: 1206
RT slug: alpha_2018
RT URL: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/alpha_2018
Release year: 2018
Runtime: 97 mins
Wide release date: 2018-08-17
Limited release date: —
Festival premiere date: —
Streaming release date: 2018-03-17
Tomatometer final: 80%
Audience score final: 71%
Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama
Directors: Albert Hughes
Writers: Dan Wiedenhaupt
Producers: Andrew Rona
MPAA rating: PG-13
Executive Producers: —
Created: 2026-08-21 22:19:50
Updated: 2026-08-21 22:19:50
Young Keda tries to survive alone in the wilderness after he's left for dead during his first hunt with his Cro-Magnon tribe. He soon forms an unlikely alliance with a lone wolf that was abandoned by its pack. Facing overwhelming odds and nonstop danger, Keda and the wolf must now trek through a harsh and unforgiving landscape to make it home before winter.
Well-acted and beautifully filmed, Alpha offers a canine-assisted epic adventure that blends rousing action with an extra helping of canine charm.
Canonical reviews: 132
Canonical fresh: 105
Canonical rotten: 27
Canonical calculated Tomatometer: 80%
Latest snapshot UTC: 2026-08-21 18:43:01
Snapshot Tomatometer: 80%
Snapshot review count: 132
Snapshot fresh count: 105
Snapshot rotten count: 27
Source note: Imported from manual review paste batch #2991 (full_snapshot)
| Company | Role |
|---|---|
| Columbia Pictures | distributor |
| Sony Pictures Entertainment | distributor |
| Studio 8 | production |
| Billing | Name | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kodi Smit-McPhee | Keda |
| 2 | Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson | Tau |
| 3 | Marcin Kowalczyk | Sigma |
| 4 | Jens Hultén | Xi |
| 5 | Natassia Malthe | Rho |
| Batch ID | Status | Mode | Created | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1222 | processed | — | 2026-08-21 22:19:50 | Processed successfully into movie_id=1206 using update_mode=merge_non_empty. |
| Batch ID | Local Snapshot | UTC Snapshot | Entered % | Entered Count | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2991 | 2026-08-21 13:43:00 (America/Panama) | 2026-08-21 18:43:01 | 80% | 132 | processed | Mode=full_snapshot. Processed 132 row(s); 0 row error(s). Parsed unique reviews in this batch=132, fresh=105, rotten=27, tomatometer=80%. Net new reviews added=132, fresh=105, rotten=27. Current canonical totals=132 reviews, 105 fresh, 27 rotten, tomatometer=80% (79.545%). Entered review count matched parsed batch count (132). Entered tomatometer matched parsed batch value (80%). |
| ID | Critic | Outlet | Fresh? | Score | RT Time Raw | Approx Published UTC | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 248803 | M.N. Miller | Ready Steady Cut | Rotten | 2.5/5 | 2022-08-17T00:33:56.000Z | 2022-08-17 00:33:56 | The film takes on a plastic, almost sterile feel, and the rugged landscape is less of a character, where it needs to be the center of the movie, especially since Alpha is in serious need of some star power |
| 248804 | Michael Clark | Epoch Times | Fresh | 5/5 | 2022-04-09T21:11:07.000Z | 2022-04-09 21:11:07 | Containing bits of Quest For Fire, The Revenant, Jeremiah Johnson, The Grey, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and maybe even a little bit of The Lion King, Alpha deftly mixes the survival, coming-of-age and shaggy dog genres to brilliant, mesmerizing effect. |
| 248805 | Brian Eggert | Deep Focus Review | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-03-11T03:18:51.000Z | 2022-03-11 03:18:51 | The grandeur and scope throughout, obvious computer animation notwithstanding, leaves the viewer with a sense of awe. |
| 248806 | Nicolás Delgadillo | Discussing Film | Fresh | — | 2021-06-25T00:02:05.000Z | 2021-06-25 00:02:05 | 3.5 / 5 A very standard story, but its unique setting, inspired and beautiful cinematography, and its boldness in not holding back from telling that story in a fresh and realistic way elevates it to a level above averageness. |
| 248807 | Allen Almachar | The MacGuffin | Fresh | B- | 2020-07-09T22:20:58.000Z | 2020-07-09 22:20:58 | The panoramas of rolling mountains and snow-covered hills are gorgeous, but having those shots repeated over and over turns the narrative into a glutton for eye candy. |
| 248808 | Steven Prokopy | Third Coast Review | Fresh | — | 2020-06-23T00:31:29.000Z | 2020-06-23 00:31:29 | I'm truly in awe that it exists at all, and Smit-McPhee sells every moment so beautifully that the whole thing ends up working quite nicely. It's a mild recommendation, but it's probably the best of the bigger-budget movies released this week. |
| 248809 | Chris McCoy | Memphis Flyer | Fresh | — | 2020-01-21T20:23:29.000Z | 2020-01-21 20:23:29 | Alpha ultimately won me over with its pluck. It's not a perfect movie, but its heart is in the right place, and that's what counts. |
| 248810 | Phumlani S Langa | City Press (South Africa) | Fresh | 4.5/5 | 2020-01-03T23:10:59.000Z | 2020-01-03 23:10:59 | Hughes uses a lot of long shots, showing just the silhouettes on screen and it's a striking effect... I also enjoyed how very little script there is in this. |
| 248811 | Vincent Schilling | Indian Country Today | Fresh | 7/10 | 2019-08-22T22:21:11.000Z | 2019-08-22 22:21:11 | Decent actually, aside from the Easter Egg stone and painting set decorations I guess the cavemen had in their pockets if someone croaked. But I loved the prehistoric animals. A fun movie experience. |
| 248812 | Victor Stiff | In The Seats | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2019-07-25T17:01:10.000Z | 2019-07-25 17:01:10 | Hughes just delivered the type of gripping original movie we pine for whenever a new Transformers flick steamrolls through multiplexes |
| 248813 | Víctor López G. | Espinof | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2019-07-11T23:17:29.000Z | 2019-07-11 23:17:29 | It is very effective, involving a charming aura of prehistoric mysticism and for making use of a primitive idiom. [Full Review in Spanish] |
| 248814 | Kaitlyn Booth | Bleeding Cool | Rotten | 6/10 | 2019-05-15T18:01:51.000Z | 2019-05-15 18:01:51 | Alpha tells an interesting story with a compelling lead performance, but the pacing issues make the movie a struggle to get through. |
| 248815 | S. Indra Sathiabalan | The Sun Daily (Malaysia) | Fresh | — | 2019-03-25T23:14:17.000Z | 2019-03-25 23:14:17 | Though the humans speak in a language that requires subtitles, the actors do manage to convey their emotions very well. Go in with no expectations, and enjoy this movie for what it is. |
| 248816 | Rachel Wagner | rachelsreviews.net | Fresh | 8/10 | 2019-02-25T23:41:27.000Z | 2019-02-25 23:41:27 | This movie is about a billion times better than it has any right to be. |
| 248817 | Peter Sobczynski | eFilmCritic.com | Fresh | — | 2019-02-21T00:11:08.000Z | 2019-02-21 00:11:08 | Director Albert Hughes tells the story in a reasonably effective low-key manner that mostly eschews melodrama for realism. |
| 248818 | Sarah Ward | ArtsHub | Fresh | 3/5 | 2019-01-28T06:01:08.000Z | 2019-01-28 06:01:08 | When Alpha hews close to its core focus, it howls with heart. |
| 248819 | Rob Aldam | Backseat Mafia | Fresh | — | 2019-01-04T22:46:15.000Z | 2019-01-04 22:46:15 | A compelling story of endurance, determination and friendship. |
| 248820 | Nick Johnston | Vanyaland | Rotten | — | 2018-12-21T23:25:59.000Z | 2018-12-21 23:25:59 | Yes, it's Old Yeller meets Hell in the Pacific, and I wish the movie were half as good as that logline suggests it would be. |
| 248821 | Matt Brunson | Film Frenzy | Rotten | 2.5/4 | 2018-12-21T23:24:54.000Z | 2018-12-21 23:24:54 | The familiar "boy and his dog" tale receives a bit of a welcome twist. |
| 248822 | Tim Stevens | Comicsverse | Rotten | — | 2018-11-27T18:40:22.000Z | 2018-11-27 18:40:22 | Gorgeous to behold. Largely emotionally inert. |
| 248823 | David N. Butterworth | La Movie Boeuf | Fresh | 2.5/4 | 2018-11-27T17:15:50.000Z | 2018-11-27 17:15:50 | "Alpha" proves that you can't really beat a good old boy-and-his-dog/wolf/wolf dog saga. |
| 248824 | Jim Schembri | 3AW | Fresh | 4/5 | 2018-11-05T07:00:50.000Z | 2018-11-05 07:00:50 | An engrossing survival film about the plight of prehistoric people trying to make ends meet amidst the beauty and savagery of a landscape they are a few aeons from dominating. |
| 248825 | Diego Batlle | La Nación (Argentina) | Fresh | — | 2018-10-26T20:42:06.000Z | 2018-10-26 20:42:06 | A film at times fascinating and always inspiring. [Full Review in Spanish] |
| 248826 | Pablo O. Scholz | Clarín | Fresh | — | 2018-10-25T17:27:40.000Z | 2018-10-25 17:27:40 | Director Albert Hughes... puts a brave face on a story that has tension and builds on the base of that fellowship between the wolf and man. [Full review in Spanish] |
| 248827 | Sean Collier | Pittsburgh Magazine | Rotten | 5/10 | 2018-10-15T17:54:40.000Z | 2018-10-15 17:54:40 | When it works, it's majestic; when it doesn't, it's like one of those t-shirts with an airbrushed image of a wolf howling at the moon, rendered in absurd clarity. |
| 248828 | Stephen Romei | The Australian | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2018-10-13T00:30:50.000Z | 2018-10-13 00:30:50 | Parental difference of opinion is put to the test throughout. And there's a significant twist at the end that takes this 20,000-year-old story smack into the #MeToo moment. |
| 248829 | Nate Adams | The Only Critic | Rotten | C- | 2018-10-11T02:28:40.000Z | 2018-10-11 02:28:40 | Gets lost in the stone age. |
| 248830 | Leigh Paatsch | Herald Sun (Australia) | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-09-26T23:09:21.000Z | 2018-09-26 23:09:21 | Older onlookers won't mind it either as a shorter, sweeter version of The Revenant, minus the murders and revenge killings, of course! |
| 248831 | Sandra Hall | Sydney Morning Herald | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2018-09-26T17:29:43.000Z | 2018-09-26 17:29:43 | It's not so much a performance from Smit-Mcphee as a totally credible and unselfconscious demonstration of what it would be like to fight for your life against hunger and exposure |
| 248832 | James Mottram | South China Morning Post | Rotten | 2.5/5 | 2018-09-24T17:24:17.000Z | 2018-09-24 17:24:17 | In spite of some epic visuals, Alpha feels overly familiar as it lumbers towards a plodding and predictable final act. |
| 248833 | Simon Foster | Screen-Space (Substack) | Fresh | 4/5 | 2018-09-23T12:31:25.000Z | 2018-09-23 12:31:25 | Deceptively simple in its construction yet sweepingly epic, exciting and genuinely moving in its execution. |
| 248834 | Tim Brayton | Alternate Ending | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2018-09-16T07:13:27.000Z | 2018-09-16 07:13:27 | A tightly-fitted adventure movie that is, for all its ridiculously high concept and its bestiary of CGI Pleistocene fauna, pretty simple and direct. |
| 248835 | Ruben Peralta Rigaud | Cocalecas | Fresh | — | 2018-09-10T21:21:46.000Z | 2018-09-10 21:21:46 | Alpha entertains, touches and amazes. [Full review in Spanish] |
| 248836 | Mike McGranaghan | Aisle Seat | Rotten | 2/4 | 2018-09-09T14:15:32.000Z | 2018-09-09 14:15:32 | Visually magnificent, dramatically familiar. |
| 248837 | Shyama Krishna Kumar | Gulf News (UAE) | Fresh | — | 2018-09-06T22:46:31.000Z | 2018-09-06 22:46:31 | There's something to be said for the simple joys of enjoying wholesome content on an evening out at the cinema, and this is where Alpha delivers. |
| 248838 | Mary Ann Brussat | Spirituality & Practice | Fresh | 5/5 | 2018-09-06T20:58:04.000Z | 2018-09-06 20:58:04 | An extraordinary film charting the relationship and interdependence between a wild wolf and youth led by his heart. |
| 248839 | Dennis Schwartz | Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews | Rotten | C+ | 2018-09-06T11:37:54.000Z | 2018-09-06 11:37:54 | Aside from the beautiful visuals that set an impressive pre-historic look, the film dragged. |
| 248840 | Erick Estrada | Cinegarage | Fresh | — | 2018-08-31T22:06:52.000Z | 2018-08-31 22:06:52 | Alpha is exciting at moments and fun. [Full Review in Spanish] |
| 248841 | Susana Guzman De la O | Cine Premiere | Rotten | 3/5 | 2018-08-31T00:01:28.000Z | 2018-08-31 00:01:28 | ... Alfa ends up being slow, with a simple story and with very little authenticity. [Full Review in Spanish] |
| 248842 | Bob Grimm | Reno News and Review | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-30T02:25:54.000Z | 2018-08-30 02:25:54 | Who loves dogs? I love dogs! Hooray...dogs!!! |
| 248843 | Ricardo Rosado | Fotogramas | Fresh | — | 2018-08-29T16:50:08.000Z | 2018-08-29 16:50:08 | There's strength in the breathtaking landscapes and unknown languages spoken... [but] it does sound too familiar. [Full Review in Spanish] |
| 248844 | Oliver Jones | Observer | Fresh | 2.5/4 | 2018-08-29T00:41:20.000Z | 2018-08-29 00:41:20 | It is difficult not to be impressed by much of what does arrive on screen. |
| 248845 | Alci Rengifo | Entertainment Voice | Fresh | — | 2018-08-28T20:21:56.000Z | 2018-08-28 20:21:56 | With Alpha Hughes again demonstrates a striking eye, but he should have gone further. Still, it's an interesting film, best viewed on the biggest screen you can find. |
| 248846 | David Fontana | Film Inquiry | Fresh | — | 2018-08-28T18:11:19.000Z | 2018-08-28 18:11:19 | Alpha is one of the surprising standouts of the summer blockbuster season. |
| 248848 | Javier Ocaña | El Pais (Spain) | Fresh | — | 2018-08-27T17:35:58.000Z | 2018-08-27 17:35:58 | The narrative offers a compact account of survival that is never sweet. [Full Review in Spanish] |
| 248847 | Matthew Bond | The Mail on Sunday (UK) | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-27T17:35:58.000Z | 2018-08-27 17:35:58 | Some of the CGI isn't great, but it's ambitious and strangely touching. |
| 248849 | Olly Richards | Empire Magazine | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-27T11:35:38.000Z | 2018-08-27 11:35:38 | It's a family movie but one unafraid to show some very sharp teeth. |
| 248850 | Sarah Marrs | Lainey Gossip | Fresh | — | 2018-08-26T22:50:27.000Z | 2018-08-26 22:50:27 | It's fine. |
| 248851 | Francisco Marinero | El Mundo (Spain) | Rotten | 1/5 | 2018-08-26T17:50:46.000Z | 2018-08-26 17:50:46 | Not even the interpreters are credible. [Full Review in Spanish] |
| 248852 | Andy Lea | Daily Express (UK) | Fresh | — | 2018-08-26T13:57:51.000Z | 2018-08-26 13:57:51 | The story is engaging if a little schmaltzy. But dog people will lap this one up. |
| 248853 | Wendy Ide | Observer (UK) | Fresh | 4/5 | 2018-08-26T13:57:50.000Z | 2018-08-26 13:57:50 | 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. |
| 248854 | Ross Miller | The National (Scotland) | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-25T12:22:47.000Z | 2018-08-25 12:22:47 | It works because of the sense of visual splendour and scope that co-writer/director Albert Hughes brings to it. |
| 248855 | Katherine Monk | Ex-Press.com | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2018-08-25T00:12:31.000Z | 2018-08-25 00:12:31 | ...When you're starting from scratch, claw and bite, there's a lot of trust-building that has to happen. Not just between the animal and the human, but between film and the audience. For recreating the boy and his dog story... Alpha gets a cookie. |
| 248856 | Rashid Irani | Hindustan Times | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2018-08-24T22:07:49.000Z | 2018-08-24 22:07:49 | Alpha is a stirring top-tier adventure. |
| 248857 | Andrea Gronvall | Chicago Reader | Fresh | — | 2018-08-24T22:07:48.000Z | 2018-08-24 22:07:48 | A work of great imagination but devoid of wasteful excess, grounding his straightforward tale in recognizable human-and animal-behaviors. |
| 248858 | Ed Potton | The Times (UK) | Rotten | 2/5 | 2018-08-24T21:52:49.000Z | 2018-08-24 21:52:49 | It's basically The Revenant meets Barbara Woodhouse, with a hefty dollop of schmaltz, full of clichés...and hilariously portentous subtitled dialogue. |
| 248859 | Tara Brady | Irish Times | Fresh | 4/5 | 2018-08-24T21:25:18.000Z | 2018-08-24 21:25:18 | Smit-McPhee has to do most of the heavy lifting, and he does so with such magnetism, he puts the aurora borealis sequence to shame. |
| 248860 | Paul Whitington | Irish Independent | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-24T20:32:14.000Z | 2018-08-24 20:32:14 | Alpha is splendidly photographed, nicely paced, and allows us to imagine what it must have been like to live short, brutal, vivid lives surrounded by natural predators. |
| 248861 | Devesh Sharma | Filmfare | Fresh | 4/5 | 2018-08-24T18:41:26.000Z | 2018-08-24 18:41:26 | It's a type of film which doesn't get made anymore. Watch it for its uniqueness as well as the warm-hearted tale it unfolds... |
| 248862 | Charles Koplinski | Illinois Times | Fresh | 2.5/4.0 | 2018-08-24T15:25:58.000Z | 2018-08-24 15:25:58 | A surprisingly effective dog's tale. |
| 248863 | Alistair Harkness | Scotsman | Rotten | 2/5 | 2018-08-24T11:45:30.000Z | 2018-08-24 11:45:30 | Rendered with too much ropey CGI, and topped and tailed with theme-explicating voiceover by Morgan Freeman, the results are corny in the extreme. |
| 248864 | Toby Young | Daily Mail (UK) | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-24T11:38:57.000Z | 2018-08-24 11:38:57 | The cinematography is breathtaking and Smit-McPhee gives a solid performance, but the sense of being on an epic adventure never quite takes flight, perhaps because it lacks a villain. |
| 248865 | Neil Soans | The Times of India | Fresh | 4/5 | 2018-08-23T22:22:07.000Z | 2018-08-23 22:22:07 | This gritty and heart-warming fictional backstory to one of the most unique relationships we share with our furry friends makes it essential viewing for every dog-lover. |
| 248866 | Tim Robey | Daily Telegraph (UK) | Rotten | 2/5 | 2018-08-23T21:37:02.000Z | 2018-08-23 21:37:02 | This isn't the Ice Age that your unkempt ancestors would have etched about in cave paintings, but some kind of iPad edition. |
| 248867 | MaryAnn Johanson | Flick Filosopher | Rotten | 2.5/5 | 2018-08-23T21:08:00.000Z | 2018-08-23 21:08:00 | The remarkable Ice Age setting is all that distinguishes - and not by much - a depressingly conventional boy-and-his-dog story. |
| 248868 | Jim Lane | Sacramento News & Review | Rotten | 2/5 | 2018-08-23T17:56:04.000Z | 2018-08-23 17:56:04 | Give director Albert Hughes an A for ambition, but a C for cornball achievement. As a piece of prehistory, the movie is maybe a cut above One Million Years B.C., but with cheesier visual effects. |
| 248869 | Peter Bradshaw | Guardian | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-23T16:45:41.000Z | 2018-08-23 16:45:41 | Comfort food, yes, but more edible than many another burnt offering. |
| 248870 | John Byrne | RTÉ (Ireland) | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2018-08-23T15:20:44.000Z | 2018-08-23 15:20:44 | Oddly enough, this works. |
| 248871 | Nigel Andrews | Financial Times | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-22T19:01:34.000Z | 2018-08-22 19:01:34 | It looks wonderful and spins scenic variants on the kind of suspense set-piece you expect in a wilderness yarn. |
| 248872 | Geoffrey Macnab | Independent (UK) | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-22T17:40:57.000Z | 2018-08-22 17:40:57 | The film offers a strange but undeniably vivid blend of brutality and sentimentality. |
| 248873 | Dann Gire | Chicago Daily Herald | Rotten | 2.5/4 | 2018-08-22T16:36:46.000Z | 2018-08-22 16:36:46 | Underdeveloped details ding this movie in small but significant ways. |
| 248874 | Deirdre Crimmins | HighDef Digest | Fresh | 4/5 | 2018-08-21T23:31:40.000Z | 2018-08-21 23:31:40 | It's a simple story with straightforward characters, but this simplicity allows its characters to grow and the audience to become immersed in their world. |
| 248875 | Angie Errigo | The List | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-21T16:18:54.000Z | 2018-08-21 16:18:54 | It is marvellous to see such a large scale, IMAX-worthy picture with an abundance of old-fashioned heart amid the wham-bam franchises that fill our summers. |
| 248876 | Pete Hammond | Deadline Hollywood Daily | Fresh | 5/5 | 2018-08-21T01:36:55.000Z | 2018-08-21 01:36:55 | A stirring boy-and-his-dog adventure that is the perfect family entertainment and deserves to find an audience even IF Disney didn't make it. |
| 248877 | Susan Granger | SSG Syndicate | Fresh | 7/10 | 2018-08-20T17:35:33.000Z | 2018-08-20 17:35:33 | Survivalist adventure - and not just for dog lovers. |
| 248878 | Jim Judy | Screen It! | Fresh | — | 2018-08-20T14:45:21.000Z | 2018-08-20 14:45:21 | Despite the limited cast of characters and a really straightforward plot, it all works. (Full Content Review for Parents - Violence, etc. - also Available) |
| 248880 | Leigh Monson | Birth.Movies.Death. | Fresh | — | 2018-08-20T14:20:23.000Z | 2018-08-20 14:20:23 | A slow, meditative film, taking full advantage of the natural spectacle of a simulated ice age for an experience that is as much about contemplating humanity as loving the cute doggo. |
| 248879 | Chris Bumbray | JoBlo's Movie Network | Fresh | — | 2018-08-20T14:20:23.000Z | 2018-08-20 14:20:23 | Well worth seeing in IMAX 3D |
| 248881 | Eric D. Snider | Crooked Marquee | Fresh | B | 2018-08-18T22:25:12.000Z | 2018-08-18 22:25:12 | Frequently thrilling in the way that boys' adventure novels are, intense but not overwhelming, with a satisfying resolution. I liked it; I think an outdoorsy kid who's 11 or 12 would love it. |
| 248882 | Todd Jorgenson | Cinemalogue | Fresh | — | 2018-08-17T21:41:11.000Z | 2018-08-17 21:41:11 | ... provides a feast for the senses even when the story feels stuck in the past. |
| 248883 | Joshua Rothkopf | Time Out | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-17T21:11:08.000Z | 2018-08-17 21:11:08 | Evidently, facts aren't terribly important here (even the movie's title comes from a civilization that's still millennia away), but if you can get past that, there's a moderately gripping tale of survival and natural kinship to be had. |
| 248884 | Chris Knight | National Post | Rotten | 3/5 | 2018-08-17T19:46:25.000Z | 2018-08-17 19:46:25 | It's a modest plot, and director and co-writer Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli) never quite manages to give the material the existential oomph required of a lost-in-the-wilderness tale. |
| 248885 | Robert Denerstein | Denerstein Unleashed | Fresh | — | 2018-08-17T19:36:24.000Z | 2018-08-17 19:36:24 | Hughes works to create a convincing natural environment, creating a feeling for a time when darkness really was dark and the sky brimmed with twinkling stars. |
| 248886 | Simon Thompson | IGN Movies | Fresh | 7/10 | 2018-08-17T18:46:21.000Z | 2018-08-17 18:46:21 | [It's] Very enjoyable and visually impressive, it's got heart but that heart's not quite as big as it could be. |
| 248887 | Stephen Schaefer | Boston Herald | Fresh | B- | 2018-08-17T18:26:22.000Z | 2018-08-17 18:26:22 | "Alpha" can be seen as an old-style Hollywood adventure film with an apt moral about trusting your inner self in tough times. |
| 248888 | Barry Paris | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Fresh | — | 2018-08-17T18:16:18.000Z | 2018-08-17 18:16:18 | In the cinematic dog days of August, you and your kids could do much worse than spend 90 minutes in this wolf's situation room. |
| 248889 | Alexandra August | CBR | Fresh | — | 2018-08-17T16:50:57.000Z | 2018-08-17 16:50:57 | If you like dogs, you will 100% adore this movie. |
| 248890 | Josh Terry | Deseret News (Salt Lake City) | Fresh | 3.5/4 | 2018-08-17T16:27:31.000Z | 2018-08-17 16:27:31 | CGI effects have enhanced "Alpha," but not in a way that's distracting, and the visuals never take away from the film's story. |
| 248891 | Odie Henderson | RogerEbert.com | Fresh | 3/4 | 2018-08-17T16:05:50.000Z | 2018-08-17 16:05:50 | There's a pleasant, old-fashioned feel to Alpha. It plays like one of those Disneynature movies with sharper edges. |
| 248892 | Dan Lybarger | Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | Fresh | 85/100 | 2018-08-17T15:02:02.000Z | 2018-08-17 15:02:02 | t's ironic that Hughes has found fresh angles on this trope by going even farther back in time. |
| 248893 | Phil Villarreal | ABC Tucson | Fresh | 3/4 | 2018-08-17T05:30:42.000Z | 2018-08-17 05:30:42 | The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next. |
| 248894 | Mark Dujsik | Mark Reviews Movies | Fresh | 3/4 | 2018-08-17T04:45:41.000Z | 2018-08-17 04:45:41 | This is an old-fashioned adventure yarn about survival ... lent a strong visual flair by director Albert Hughes... |
| 248895 | Brad Wheeler | Globe and Mail | Fresh | 3/4 | 2018-08-17T02:45:34.000Z | 2018-08-17 02:45:34 | Seeing Alpha on as big and splashy a screen as possible is advisable, preferably with children who can handle occasional scenes of intense peril. |
| 248896 | Katie Walsh | Tribune News Service | Fresh | 2/4 | 2018-08-16T23:10:37.000Z | 2018-08-16 23:10:37 | You know Sheila the She-Wolf from "Glow" on Netflix? "Alpha" would be her favorite movie. |
| 248897 | Frank Swietek | One Guy's Opinion | Fresh | B | 2018-08-16T21:11:03.000Z | 2018-08-16 21:11:03 | Might not become the alpha dog among other warmer, fuzzier canine movies, but it's certainly distinctive, particularly in visual terms. |
| 248898 | William Bibbiani | TheWrap | Fresh | — | 2018-08-16T20:51:02.000Z | 2018-08-16 20:51:02 | The story is straightforward, directional, a direct but difficult path from danger to safety, punctuated by life-threatening adventures. What could have made other storytellers stir-crazy seems to have unleashed something philosophical in Albert Hughes. |
| 248899 | Bruce DeMara | Toronto Star | Fresh | 3.5/4 | 2018-08-16T20:25:54.000Z | 2018-08-16 20:25:54 | Smit-McPhee's performance is astonishing, and believable in every respect as a boy on the cusp of adulthood who must dig deep to find the courage and resourcefulness to survive. |
| 248901 | Liam Lacey | Original Cin | Fresh | B | 2018-08-16T19:41:03.000Z | 2018-08-16 19:41:03 | Filmmakers often complain that critics and audiences keep asking for something different, and that when they get it, they reject it. Alpha is that something different, an unexpected shot of originality for summer fare. |
| 248900 | David Fear | Rolling Stone | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2018-08-16T19:41:03.000Z | 2018-08-16 19:41:03 | It's the coming-of-Ice-Age parable you didn't know you really needed. |
| 248902 | Don Kaye | Den of Geek | Fresh | 3/5 | 2018-08-16T19:11:19.000Z | 2018-08-16 19:11:19 | There's a final shot in which the film hints at the bigger meaning lurking around its edges, and it's an admittedly powerful one. |
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