Alpha is a 2025 body horror drama film written and directed by Julia Ducournau. Starring Tahar Rahim, Golshifteh Farahani, Mélissa Boros, Emma Mackey, 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 on 19 May, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the acting, especially Rahim's performance, but criticized the screenplay. It was theatrically released in France by Diaphana Distribution on 20 August 2025, and in Belgium by O'Brother Distribution on 3 September.
Alpha is a 13-year-old rebellious teenager living with her single unnamed mother of Berber origin somewhere in coastal France. At an earlier point in time a strange new contagious blood-borne disease begins to spread. AlphaâÂÂs mother is a doctor and works in a ward with patients who are slowly turning into marble. The film follows both timelines concurrently.
In the present Alpha receives a stick and poke tattoo at a party with her friend Adrien. When Alpha's tattoo becomes infected, her mother becomes concerned that her daughter may have the strange disease. Alpha begins to have panic attacks.
AlphaâÂÂs uncle Amin moves into his sister's home so she can take care of him while he fights to get off of heroin. Amin begins reconnecting with his niece.
Meanwhile, sometime in the past, the hospital where Alpha's mother works has run out of beds and begins turning sick people away. AlphaâÂÂs mother helps some people who have received medical care. At home, Amin overdoses and is resuscitated by AlphaâÂÂs mother. AlphaâÂÂs grandmother believes the âÂÂRed Windâ is causing his condition.
In the present, Alpha is the target of bullying at school; she also begins a secret affair with Adrien, kissing him in a bathroom. Two weeks pass since AlphaâÂÂs tattoo, and her mother takes her to the hospital for blood testing. While waiting to take her blood test, Alpha encounters her English teacher. The English teacher is with his boyfriend, who is infected with the disease and has already partially turned to stone. Students begin to spread rumors that Alpha has the mysterious disease. AlphaâÂÂs bullying continues. Adrien accuses Alpha of giving him the disease.
Alpha and her mother and uncle Amin attend a family gathering. Amin sneaks away to buy heroin and overdoses. AlphaâÂÂs mother is able to successfully resuscitate him, again. At school, the bullying of Alpha climaxes during a swimming lesson. Alpha's mother is brought in for a meeting by the school principal, who demands a negative test result following the pressure of several parents. Alpha returns to school, while her English teacher arrives late and cries during class.
After AlphaâÂÂs test come back negative, Alpha's mother continues to fixate on the possibility of her daughterâÂÂs contagion. AlphaâÂÂs mother makes a cut on her finger and exchanges blood with her daughter to ensure they will have the same fate. AlphaâÂÂs mother gets into a fight with Amin about his addiction, the mysterious disease and her treatment of Alpha.
In the past, Amin has the mysterious disease and is examined by AlphaâÂÂs mother. AlphaâÂÂs mother accidentally injures Amin while taking a sample, and red dust begins to pour uncontrollably from AminâÂÂs wound.
In the present, AlphaâÂÂs mother forbids Alpha from leaving her room, locking her indoors with her uncle Amin who is still going through withdrawals. AlphaâÂÂs panic attacks become more frequent. Amin helps Alpha sneak out of the house. Amin brings Alpha to a nightclub filled with people suffering from the mystery disease. The two celebrate their rebellion together, until Amin abandons Alpha to get high.
Alpha walks alone to AdrienâÂÂs house. The two undress with the intention of having sex. Alpha sees that Adrien has a matching tattoo to hers, and learns that he was also tattooed at the same party that she was. Alpha is upset with Adrien for accusing her of giving him the disease and leaves. Both have tested negative.
Alpha catches a bus and finds her uncle Amin already onboard. Amin asks Alpha to promise him that she will prevent him from being resuscitated if he overdoses again. The two get off at a beachside stop and Amin leaves Alpha again to try to buy heroin.
In the past, AlphaâÂÂs mother calls home from the hospital and her mother chastises her for leaving a young Alpha in Amin's care. She does not know where Amin or Alpha are.
In the present Alpha finds Amin overdosing and runs to a nearby motel to call her mother.
Simultaneously in the past and present, AlphaâÂÂs mother arrives at the motel to meet her daughter. In the past, she tells a young Alpha to stay in the bathroom while she helps her brother commit suicide by overdose to avoid the pain of the disease. As Amin begins to fall unconscious, she yells for the young Alpha to give her her bag. In the present, Alpha tells her mother that she has promised to allow Amin to die peacefully. In the past, her mother pulls the bag out of young AlphaâÂÂs arms and uses a needle filled with adrenaline to resuscitate Amin.
AminâÂÂs disease progresses, ultimately leading to his death during Alpha's early childhood. Amin's existence in the present day is revealed to be a phantom of AlphaâÂÂs familial trauma.
In the present, AlphaâÂÂs mother wakes up in the motel and Alpha tells her that Amin cannot be allowed to come home with them. AlphaâÂÂs mother agrees and the two leave to drive Amin home. A red dust storm envelopes the streets as they drive. The three of them get out of the car as the wind whips red dust into the air. AlphaâÂÂs mother walks Amin to the door while Alpha watches, dust coating her face. Amin disintegrates in the wind, and AlphaâÂÂs mother collapses with grief. Alpha watches.
The film has been described by distributors FilmNation Entertainment and Charades as writer/director Julia Ducournau's "most personal, profound work". The fictitious disease featured in the film has been analyzed by most critics as an allegory for HIV/AIDS, with the plot reflecting the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and its aftermath in the 90s.
Principal photography took place in Le Havre in September and October 2024. From 23âÂÂ24 October onward, a public swimming pool in Pont-Audemer was used as a filming location, chosen for its 1980s appearance. 35 days were spent filming in Normandy, followed by continued filming in Paris into November. Rahim lost 20 kilograms for his role.
Neon bought North American distribution rights at the Marché du Film of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, having distributed Ducournau's previous film Titane (2021). The film competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 19 May. It was also showcased at the 53rd Norwegian International Film Festival in Main Programme section on 16 August. The film opened the 58th Sitges Film Festival on 9 October. It competed for a Bronze Horse Best Film award at the 2025 Stockholm International Film Festival on 13 November.
It was theatrically released in France by Diaphana Distribution on 20 August 2025, and in Belgium by O'Brother Distribution on 3 September. It was released in the United States and Canada by Neon on 27 March 2026. It will be distributed by Mubi in Latin America and India, and Curzon Film in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
David Ehrlich of Indiewire called the film "dismal" and Ducournau's "first unambiguous misfire," and Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote in a one-star review that "the madly, bafflingly overwrought and humourless storytelling canâÂÂt overcome the fact that everything [in the film] is frankly unpersuasive and tedious." However, in a more positive review, Radhika Seth of Vogue stated that the film "feels destined to become a cult classic," and praised the performances of Boros, Farahani, and Rahim. M. Sellers Johnson of Offscreen offers that Ducournau's film "instills love as an ethos of memory and mourning," but will "undoubtedly divide fans of her previous ventures." He continues that "Durcournau propels the canon of cinema du corps, to not only provocate corporeal intensities and curiosities of the living but to honor the deceased and the love that reverberates, even after our bodies crumble and float on into the ether."