How many times does Hollywood have to throw another “a boy and his dog” story on the screen before it gets old? Enter, Alpha.

Alpha tells the typical story of a bond between man and canine, except this time the story is set in Europe 20,000 years ago. It features Keda, a young man separated from his clan, and Alpha, an injured wolf, who rely on each other to survive the harsh conditions of prehistoric Europe.

At first, Alpha impresses the audience with intense visuals, like aerial shots of mountains and extreme slow motion. But where the film excels in cinematography, it fails in plot execution.

At first, the storyline starts to lead the audience in the direction that Keda will break away from the societal pressures forcing him become a hunter despite his lack of desire to kill. This could have been an interesting direction to take the story. Instead, it becomes a stagnant, predictable tale of survival.

Despite the visually stimulating shots, the audience is disconnected from the story through the fictional language and the use of subtitles. The dialogue is unnecessarily overused and doesn’t add much to the already simple story. It would have been more beneficial if it had been left out.

Keda’s character is pushed to the limit in terms of injury, near death, and survival, but it is slightly too unrealistic. Even though prehistoric humans were able to endure much more physically than the people of today, these scenes are so extreme that they are impossible.

Unfortunately, with such a strong emphasis on visuals, the storyline was underworked and cliche. Maybe it’s time for “a girl and her cat” movies to start making an appearance