A Very Good Pupper 12/10

We watched Alpha (2018) because it’s a dog movie. That’s pretty much it.

It’s set in Europe during the Stone Age. Kodi Smit-McPhee is one of the tribe’s boys who are trying to go on the next hunt. They are judged on the quality of the stone blade they have made. Smit-McPhee isn’t a great hunter - he can’t kill a captured boar. Of course, when his friend is suddenly devoured by a saber-toothed tiger when they are all sitting around the campfire, hunting doesn’t seem like so much fun.

The tribe do a buffalo jump, where they stampede a herd of bison over a cliff and pick up the meat at the bottom. But Smit-McPhee gets pushed over, and winds up a long way down on a tiny ledge with an injured foot. His tribe has to leave him for dead, as rope has not been invented.

Through a series of disasters, he manages to get off the cliff (“Hell, the fall will probably kill ya!”). Alone and injured, he is set upon by a pack of wolves - the Wikipedia calls them Dire Wolves, but my dire wolves are 6-ft tall at the shoulder, and these are just doggie sized. He drives them off and wounds one. The wounded wolf is left behind by its pack, and Smit-McPhee patches him up.

After that, the wolf starts following Smit-McPhee around. Smit-McPhee feeds the wolf, but makes it wait, to establish dominance. He also names it Alpha. Now, they are working together for survival and to get back to the village before snowfall. I’ll spoil it so you don’t get nervous: They don’t make it back before snowfall, but they do make it back. Alpha gets pretty banged up but survives.

So, your basic boy and dog vs. the elements story, with the twist that the boy is a Paleolithic caveman (well, they mostly live in huts, but he does spend a little time with Alpha in a cave recuperating). It fun to see some CGI rhinos, etc, and to hear the made-up Indo-European-ish language the cast uses. Smit-McPhee is a fine young actor, but we’re all really here for Alpha. Played by a combination of Hungarian Vlcaks (wolf-dog hybrids) plus some CGI, Alpha is a sweet and expressive little doggie. We got what we came for.