2.5/5 stars

Set 20,000 years ago, Alpha is a survival story in which man and beast bond, or at least find common ground, as they face the harshness of Mother Nature.

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Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Keda, the young son of a tribal chief (Icelandic actor Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) who has yet to prove his masculinity out in the wild. When he accompanies his father and other hunter-gatherers from the tribe on a bison hunt, it gives him the chance to prove his worth.

The plan is to drive the creatures over a cliff, where they can be easily killed on the ground below. But after being caught up in the stampede, Keda falls over the precipice and lands on a small ledge. Unconscious and presumed dead, he is too far down to be rescued, and his grief-stricken elders reluctantly leave him behind. When he wakes, he begins on an extraordinary adventure to return back to his people.

Dangers lurk everywhere, not least a pack of ravenous wolves. Keda fends them off, even injuring one, who is soon abandoned by his fellow creatures. As Keda tends the wolf’s injuries, binding its mouth to prevent him being bitten, he forms an uneasy alliance with the beast. It won’t come as a big surprise to learn that Keda will require the help of the wolf he names “Alpha” on what becomes a treacherous journey home.

A prehistoric Lassie movie? There are times when Alpha feels just that.