The film stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as a young hunter who encounters and befriends an injured wolf during the last ice age, with Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as his father.

It grossed over $99 million worldwide and received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised the performances and cinematography.

One night, the party's fire draws the attention of a large sabertooth tiger,[7] which lunges through their circle, snatching Kappa before anyone can do anything.

The hunters eventually reach a herd of steppe bison, which they attempt to stampede off a cliff with relative success.

Tau attempts to climb down to him, but he is stopped by fellow hunter Sigma who assures him in good faith that Keda is dead and there would be no way to reach him anyway.

Continuing the journey together, they find a man who has frozen to death outside his tent and scavenge a bow and a single arrow from his body.

Keda eventually finds his village although nearly passing out from exhaustion, and he reunites with his shocked but relieved parents who are amazed and proud of him.

The film was first announced in September 2015 as The Solutrean, with Albert Hughes as director, produced by Studio 8.

[12] The film's dialogue is in constructed languages ('conlangs') created by Christine Schreyer, an anthropology professor at UBC Okanagan.

[13] The main language, which Schreyer calls Beama and is spoken in two dialects,[14] was inspired by Proto-Nostratic, Proto-Eurasiatic, and Proto-Dené–Caucasian.

[17] Filming took place in Drumheller, Burnaby, and Vancouver,[18] where a large set was built in Boundary Road near East Kent Avenue.

Filming in Vancouver took place from February to May 2016, and at Dinosaur Provincial Park near Patricia, Alberta in April 2016,[19] and in Iceland.

[21] Following an investigation, the American Humane Association denied its "No Animals Were Harmed" end-credit certification to the production.

[4] In the United States and Canada, Alpha was released alongside Mile 22, and was projected to gross $7–9 million from 2,719 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Well-acted and beautifully filmed, Alpha offers a canine-assisted epic adventure that blends rousing action with an extra helping of canine charm.