After his mother passes away, Rein moves to a small village in the Alps to be immersed in nature, meditate and work as a snowboard teacher. His quiet bubble bursts when his extroverted father Gijs comes to visit. Gijs quickly takes center stage on a back country ski tour with Rein and his friends. He charms the youngsters and flirts with Rein’s new girlfriend Laura, leaving no room for his son. It isn’t long before Rein has had enough. He drags his father away from the group and they continue their hike up the mountain alone. The tension between the two men is palpable. Gijs feels increasingly uncomfortable with the steep and dangerous terrain but Rein presses on to the top, ignoring his father’s pleas to walk back down. It isn’t long before nature violently lashes out, turning their petty struggle for dominance into a full-blown quest for survival.
Director's statement: “Alpha. is a film about the changing nature of masculinity in our society. It slowly strips a father and son of their modern Western privileges, their technology, their personal grievances and their egos, leaving them naked in the face of nature. The film may start in the noisy and cluttered environment of a ski resort, but the story culminates on the silent, frozen and unforgiving snowfields and rock-faces of the high Alps. Initially framed in rigid, fixed shots accompanied by harsh mechanical sounds and neurotic music, the two men are clearly uncomfortable with each other and their environment. But as their journey into the high Alps progresses, things start to flow more and more; the camera starts moving more freely and the sound of machines makes way for the music of the mountains and the silence of nature.” (Jan-Willem van Ewijk)