''Alpha'' is a 2025

body horror Body horror, or biological horror, is a subgenre of horror fiction that intentionally showcases grotesque or psychologically disturbing violations of the human body or of another creature. These violations may manifest through aberrant sex, mutat ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Julia Ducournau Julia Ducournau (; born 18 November 1983) is a French film director and screenwriter. She made her feature film debut in 2016 with '' Raw''. At the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, she won the Palme d'Or for her film '' Titane'', which made her the sec ...

. The film stars

Tahar Rahim Tahar Rahim (born 4 July 1981) is a French actor. His breakthrough performance was in the 2009 French film '' A Prophet'', for which he won the César Award for Best Actor and Most Promising Actor. He then starred as FBI agent Ali Soufan in t ...

Golshifteh Farahani Rahavard Farahani (; born 10 July 1983), known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani (), is an Iranian and French actress. She is known for her performances in '' M for Mother'' (2006), '' Body of Lies'' (2008), ''About Elly'' (2009), ''The Pat ...

, Mélissa Boros,

Emma Mackey Emma Margaret Marie Tachard-Mackey (born ) is a British and French actress. Her breakthrough performance in the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Sex Education'' (2019–2023) earned her a British Academy Television Award nomination. Mackey has ...

, Finnegan Oldfield, and Louai El Amrousy. It follows a teen girl who, after returning from school with a tattoo, is feared to have contracted a new lethal bloodborne disease. The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the

2025 Cannes Film Festival The 78th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2025. French actress Juliette Binoche served as jury president for the main competition. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama ...

on 19 May, and will be theatrically released in France by Diaphana Distribution on 20 August 2025.

Synopsis

Alpha, a troubled 13-year-old lives with her single mother, amid the context of a strange new bloodborne disease which slowly turns its sufferers to

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

. Their world collapses the day Alpha returns from school with a tattoo on her arm, leading her mother to fear that she has contracted the disease herself.Lee Marshall
"‘Alpha’ review: Julia Ducournau's ‘Titane’ follow-up is set against a mysterious French plague"
''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'', May 19, 2025.

Cast

* Mélissa Boros as Alpha ** Ambrine Trigo Ouaked as 5-year-old Alpha *

as Maman *

as Amin *

as Infirmière * Finnegan Oldfield as Professeur d'anglais * Louai El Amrousy as Adrien * Jean-Charles Clichet * Christophe Perez

Production

The film has been described by distributors

FilmNation Entertainment FilmNation Entertainment, LLC is an American entertainment company focused on film production, financing, and distribution. History 2008–2012: Founding FilmNation Entertainment is an independent film production and distribution company co-f ...

and Charades as writer/director

's "most personal, profound work".

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

took place in

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

in September and October 2024. From 23–24 October onwards, a public swimming pool in

Pont-Audemer Pont-Audemer () is a commune in the Eure department in the Normandy region in northern France. 35 days were spent filming in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, followed by continued filming in Paris into November. ''Alpha'' stars

and

. Rahim lost 20 kilograms for his role. The fictitious disease featured in the film has been analyzed by most critics as an allegory for

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, with the plot reflecting the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.

Release

Neon Neon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is the second noble gas in the periodic table. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with approximately two-thirds the density of ...

bought North American distribution rights at the Marché du Film of the

2024 Cannes Film Festival The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2024. American filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig served as jury president for the main competition. American filmmaker Sean Baker (filmmaker), Sean Baker won the Palme d'Or, the ...

, after previously distributing Ducournau's previous film ''

Titane ''Titane'' (, ) is a 2021 body horror psychological drama film written and directed by Julia Ducournau. The French-Belgian co-production stars Agathe Rousselle in her feature film debut as Alexia, a woman who, after being injured in a car cra ...

'' (2021). The film competed for the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the

, where it had its world premiere on 19 May 2025. The film will be distributed by

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; the Auteurs before 2010) is a global streaming platform, production company and film distributor. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available ...

in Latin America and India, and

Curzon Film Curzon Film (), formerly known as Artificial Eye or Curzon Artificial Eye, is a British film distributor, specialising in independent, foreign-language and art house films for cinema and home entertainment. History Artificial Eye was founded ...

in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Reception

David Ehrlich of '' Indiewire'' called the film "dismal" and Ducournau's "first unambiguous misfire," and

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

of ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote in a one-star review that "the madly, bafflingly overwrought and humourless storytelling can’t overcome the fact that everything

n the film N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

is frankly unpersuasive and tedious." However, in a more positive review, Radhika Seth of ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' stated that the film "feels destined to become a

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

," and praised the performances of Boros, Farahani, and Rahim.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, 2020s, Film, France, Belgium, Speculative fiction, Horror, 1980s 2020s French films 2025 films 2025 drama films French body horror films French drama films Films directed by Julia Ducournau HIV/AIDS in French films Films shot in Normandy Films shot in Eure Films shot in Paris Films shot in Seine-Maritime France 3 Cinéma films Neon (company) films