History Film / Alpha2018

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The make-up of the hunting party displays the long standing but discredited idea that only paleolithic men hunted while women stayed in camp. Both male and female skeletons from this period have been found with similar injuries and buried with hunting tools.

* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: If the sabertooth seen in the trailer really is a ''Smilodon'' as indicated by its size, it should have a short bobcat-like tail instead of the long tiger-like one it has in the film, not to mention that [[MisplacedWildlife none of the three species were found in Europe]]. Alternatively, it could be a ''Machairodus'', which was just as large and actually did have a long tail and live in Europe - except that the last members of this genus [[AnachronismStew died out during the middle Pleistocene]], millennia before the film's time period of 20,000 years ago. According to the visual effects supervisor the species is a [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BqiCgdzn7T1/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=d20gmt68vj7d cave lion]]. The cave lion did inhabit Europe during this time, but didn't have those saber teeth. However, the film's cave lion was initially designed without the sabers, but they were added due to RuleOfScary. Also displays the long standing but discredited idea that only paleolithic men hunted while women stayed in camp. Both male and female skeletons from this period have been found with similar injuries and buried with hunting tools.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Subverted, but Keda's father supposedly sees his son die in front of him, and later breaks down in tears when they perform his death rites.

* StockDinosaurs: Stock Ice Age mammals featured are [[MammothsMeanIceAge woolly mammoths]] and woolly rhinos, with the additional cameo of a cave bear skull.

* SeldomSeenSpecies: The film features cave lions, steppe bison, and cave hyenas, which are rarely seen in media and documentaries.

* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: If the sabertooth seen in the trailer really is a ''Smilodon'' as indicated by its size, it should have a short bobcat-like tail instead of the long tiger-like one it has in the film, not to mention that [[MisplacedWildlife none of the three species were found in Europe]]. Alternatively, it could be a ''Machairodus'', which was just as large and actually did have a long tail and live in Europe - except that the last members of this genus [[AnachronismStew died out during the middle Pleistocene]], millennia before the film's time period of 20,000 years ago. According to the visual effects supervisor the species is a [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BqiCgdzn7T1/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=d20gmt68vj7d cave lion]]. The cave lion did inhabit Europe during this time, but didn't have those saber teeth. However, the film's cave lion was initially designed without the sabers, but they were added due to RuleOfScary. Also displays the long standing but discredited idea that only paleolithic men hunted while women stayed in camp. Both male and female from this period have been found with similar injuries and buried with hunting tools.

* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: If the sabertooth seen in the trailer really is a ''Smilodon'' as indicated by its size, it should have a short bobcat-like tail instead of the long tiger-like one it has in the film, not to mention that [[MisplacedWildlife none of the three species were found in Europe]]. Alternatively, it could be a ''Machairodus'', which was just as large and actually did have a long tail and live in Europe - except that the last members of this genus [[AnachronismStew died out during the middle Pleistocene]], millennia before the film's time period of 20,000 years ago. According to the visual effects supervisor the species is a [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BqiCgdzn7T1/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=d20gmt68vj7d cave lion]]. The cave lion did inhabit Europe during this time, but didn't have those saber teeth. However, the film's cave lion was initially designed without the sabers, but they were added due to RuleOfScary.

''Alpha'' is a 2018 survival {{Thriller}} {{Adventure}} film set in prehistoric times directed by [[Creator/TheHughesBrothers Allen Hughes]].

''Alpha'' is a 2018 survival {{Thriller}} {{Adventure}} film set in prehistoric times.

* AllCavemenWereNeanderthals: Averted. Keda and his tribe are very clearly modern humans. True Neanderthals make an appearance in the first trailer, but they are cut in the final film.

* AdultFear: Keda's father supposedly sees his son die in front of him, and later breaks down in tears when they perform his death rites.

Set in Ice Age Europe 20,000 B.C., it follows the adventures of a young hunter named Keda who, after a hunting expedition goes awry, is left for dead by the rest of his tribe; after waking up alone in the wild, he forms a bond with a wolf that has been cast out from its pack. He eventually gives the wolf a name that translates to "Alpha" in modern English, and together they must survive the harsh, cold environment, thereby forming the first steps for the human-canine InterspeciesFriendship that would last for millennia.

* ConLang: Unlike the trailer which had an English voice-over narration by Keda, the entire film is spoken on a primitive dialect that sounds close to [=Proto-IndoEuropean=] with subtitles, just like ''VideoGame/FarCryPrimal''. This is an actual language created for the film.

* NotSoDifferent: Keda and Alpha were both left behind by their family when they were injured and thought dead.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: "Alpha" doesn't just mean the lead wolf in a pack (from which Keda gets the name) but is also used to refer to something that is first i.e. the first partnership between human and canine. Or in other words, the first ''dog''.

* NatureVsNurture: Keda's father tries to teach his son the importance of killing as means for survival ("take a life to give it to the tribe") but ultimately fails to instill the courage to do so into him because of Keda's own peaceful nature. When a bison hunt goes awry and Keda is left for dead and on his own against nature, he must find the courage to kill to survive. In a twist however, Keda's healing of a wolf (that he himself wounded when defending his own life from its attack) gives him an invaluable partner helping his own survival on his journey back home.

* FireForgedFriends: The wolf and Keda meet when they're trying to kill each other, but end up befriending each other.

* NatureVsNurture: Keda's father tries to teach his son the importance of killing as means for survival ("take a life to give it to the tribe") but ultimately fails to instill the courage to do so into him because of Keda's own peaceful nature. When a bison hunt goes awry and Keda is left for dead and on his own against nature, he must find the courage to kill to survive. In a twist however, Keda healing a wolf (that he himself wounded when defending his own life from its attack) gives him an invaluable partner helping his own survival in his journey back home.