Overview

• 'Alpha,' Julia Ducournau's third feature, premiered in competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival to an 11.5-minute standing ovation.
• The film centers on a 13-year-old girl navigating a mysterious virus that turns victims into marble-like statues, as well as her complex relationship with her single mother.
• A medical emergency during the screening briefly interrupted the premiere, with an audience member carried out on a stretcher, though the incident was unrelated to the film's content.
• The movie has been interpreted by some critics as an allegory for the AIDS crisis and broader pandemic anxieties, continuing Ducournau's signature exploration of body horror and societal trauma.
• Neon has been confirmed as the North American distributor, with a theatrical release scheduled for fall 2025.