Alpha is a messy, complicated film; much like it's subject matter of addiction and trauma.
Ducournau steeps her film in the land of magical realism where one cannot trust one's own eyes or, indeed, perception (mirroring addiction itself)
This chaotic, uneven approach transplants the viewer into a Purgatory realm, where the height of the AIDS epidemic serves as a backdrop for how systematic and societal horrors can trap us in perpetual cycles of trauma & self destruction.
Alpha understands that time is a flat circle where one can find themselves in both the present and the past simultaneously.
Alpha broaches the difficult notion of how we, as humans, may fall prey to 'Othering' people whose illness or traumas we can never understand.
The film straddles the boundaries of gritty realism and hallucinatory nightmare sequences while employing some truly unique and beautiful Body Horror. 6/10 🖤
Alpha stands in clouds of red dust
A man and a young girl embrace, sharing their pain
A young girl stands in a swimming pool, surrounded by blood as other girls hastily swim away from her
My immediate thoughts on Julia Ducournau's ALPHA
(I'm still processing it... There's some very confronting and devastating subject matter here which truly aims to provoke you; in the hopes of eliciting empathy)
Messy, flawed, yet, ultimately: beautiful & urgent.
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