Chris Pine and Cate Blanchett's Sci-Fi 'Alpha Gang' Is TIFF's Weirdest, Most Polarizing Movie | Review
Therese Lacson is a Senior TV Editor who has been with Collider since 2021. She got started in this business over ten years ago working primarily as an interviewer and critic. At Collider, she works closely with the features team to support the writers and also ideates and develops content daily. She has covered major industry events including Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Toronto International Film Festival, and San Diego Comic-Con. Although she reviews and covers both film and television, her focus is in television and her expertise is in fantasy and sci-fi genre shows. Her favorite shows to cover include House of the Dragon, Bridgerton, Fallout, 9-1-1, and Rivals.
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Let's face it, humanity is weird. We are contradictory beings. We do things that just don't make sense and when we're asked to give a reason, sometimes all we can come up with is, "Because I wanted to," or, even worse, "I don't know." We are sometimes inherently nonsensical, ruled by our emotions, and will often do things that go against our better judgment. That's exactly what the aliens of Alpha Gang quickly discover after they arrive on Earth, dead set on conquering us. Nathan and David Zellner's quirky and aesthetically pleasing sci-fi flick shows what happens when a gang of aliens is dropped on Earth and finds their own humanity; the result is wacky, illogical, and bizarrely wholesome.
What Is 'Alpha Gang' About?
From the moment we're dropped into the world of Alpha Gang, it's clear that we're in for an unconventional ride. There's a group of aliens, each named numerically in order of their arrival on Earth; Alpha Six (Riley Keough) is the latest to land on Earth in her new human body. Met by Alpha Three (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), the pair head back to their headquarters, a medieval-looking castle where Six meets Alpha One (Léa Seydoux), Alpha Two (Dave Bautista), Alpha Four (Lily-Rose Depp), and Alpha Five (Doona Bae). Though the gang of aliens might be difficult to take seriously when they're dressed like '50s greasers — with leather jackets, poodle skirts, and bouffants — their mission is to take over the world. Or at least, that's the intention. How they might actually execute their plan is still up for debate.
Appearing monotonous, eccentric, and aloof, the gang are alarmed by the fact that they only possess five senses and fear the very contagious disease of "emotions" that might affect their judgment. They spend their days dancing to a jukebox full of '50s and '60s pop, arming themselves to the teeth with all manner of modern weapons, and planning picnics that ultimately end in a shootout against the local humans who seemingly have no idea that they're being invaded.
Plans go awry when a new alpha, played by Chris Pine, appears unexpectedly. The new alpha (let's call him Seven) is embracing every aspect of the wacky and silly — oh and also, he knows that there's an infiltrator amongst their group. One of them is actually part of the Beta Gang, whose goal, he points out, is to ultimately supplant Alpha Gang. Beta Gang, led by Beta One (an eye-patch-wearing Cate Blanchett), are the upgraded version of the Alphas; they listen to electronica, dress a bit more severely, and lack any of the empathy that the Alphas have acquired since their arrival on Earth. When the two groups clash, with those deadly emotions bubbling up to the surface, Alpha Gang goes from quirky and subdued to fully embracing violence, action, and all-out war.
You'll Either Love or Hate 'Alpha Gang,' There's No In Between
There's an absurdity inherent to the Zellners' films that has become somewhat of a trademark for them, especially after Sasquatch Sunset. All the comedy in Alpha Gang is approached with a straight face, stemming from the fact that these emotionless aliens are discovering that those pesky emotions actually give their lives meaning. From slapstick stunts to deadpan one-liners, these characters are meant to feel alien in all senses of the word. What makes them so endearing is that they are slowly discovering humanity; the humor goes hand-in-hand with the heart. Whether it's Alpha One and Two quietly developing a connection with each other, or Alpha Three writing love notes to a falcon named Periwinkle, the movie leans into the schmaltz.
Alpha Gang is marmite. It's polarizing. You either love it or you hate it; there's no real middle ground. Either the silliness and inherent aloofness of the film grab your attention and keep you invested, or you think it's all a bunch of ideas thrown at a wall and wrapped up in a glossy and sleek aesthetic. The Zellners seem to understand this, as the film never once leans away from this theme, nor does it do anything half-assed. If the Alphas are shooting their guns and attacking people, they're screaming at the top of their lungs, shooting bazookas out into the wild, and emptying multiple clips of their machine guns to kill just a couple of people. It's a film that operates in the extremes, and it knows it.
The lesson at the heart of Alpha Gang is not difficult to grasp. We're watching these aliens fall in love, find their individuality, discover what it means to dream. We're watching as they abandon any idea of domination or extermination, and become enamored with the idea of living and embracing the contradictions of humanity. Their hyperbolic behavior only highlights how drastically they change, as they go from being unfeeling to being completely consumed by those same emotions they fear so much. Even if the climax of the film might lean a bit too far into the extremes — there's one particularly long action sequence that ends up overstaying its welcome — Alpha Gang is never once apologetic for how wacky it is. In fact, it knows it's weird, and you can either take it or leave it.
'Alpha Gang' Is All Style With Enough Substance To Keep It Afloat
Much of Alpha Gang's 109 minutes ends up feeling more like a fever dream music video than a true narrative film. The jukebox at the center of the Alphas' compound plays a soundtrack of needle-drop love songs. The gang enjoys playing badminton as much as they enjoy a good old dance session, each of them swaddled in peak greaser fashion. Costume designer Susie Coulthard (100 Nights of Hero, Black Mirror) gives each member of the Alpha Gang their own distinctive look, drowning them in black leather and plain white shirts, highlighted by deep red accents. If the aliens are spinning out of control, at least they are going out in manicured perfection.
The whimsical brutalist architecture that fits into the alien architecture clashes with the more romantic historical castles around them. The humans of this world are from some ambiguous period in recent history (the movie was filmed across Eastern Europe), currently fighting an unknown civil war with each other. Dressed in linen and cotton, their more grounded and conventional appearance only makes the Alphas seem foreign and plucked out of time. The visual language being employed is overt and far from subtle.
At the end of the day, much of what makes Alpha Gang entertaining is also what might turn the viewer off. It's asynchronous, it's surreal, it's irreverent, and there's a wholesome and gooey core that will likely seem just a bit too obvious if you're looking for something deeper. But as polarizing as Alpha Gang can be, there's still a fun and undeniable charm to it if you allow yourself the chance to indulge in its weirdness and humor. It's not meant to make a whole lot of sense; it's not meant to be taken too seriously — just sit back, enjoy the music, and watch as these aliens discover what it means to be human.
Alpha Gang follows alien invaders disguised as a 1950s biker gang on a mission to conquer Earth.
Pros & Cons
- The aesthetics of the film, from costuming to production design, are flawless.
- The quirky humor is one of the biggest parts of the movie's charm.
- The star-studded cast offer a bit of Hollywood shine to the indie film.
- The extremes of the film can make it severely polarizing, there's no middle ground between loving it or hating it.
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