Three years after his Palme d’Or for TitaniumJulia Ducournau turns her very mysterious Alpha and that promises some more changes.
The Substance dynamited the 2024 Cannes Film Festival with its ultra-gory body horror story led by Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. If some critics dreamed of seeing the film win the Palme d'Or, director Coralie Fargeat was ultimately awarded the screenplay prize for her second feature film. An impressive reward but which did not allow her to repeat the thunderous feat of another Frenchwoman: Julia Ducournau.
With her second film (also), the excellent Titanium mixing slasher, fantasy and body horror, the director had indeed shaken the Croisette (too) and won the Palme d'Or in 2021. Since then, we know that Julia Ducournau has embarked on the production of her third feature film entitled Alpha worn in particular by Tahar Rahim and Golshifteh Farahani. The film has remained very mysterious for the moment but while filming is in full swing, first details of the plot have been revealed.
ducournau's alpha and omega
Indeed, according to The awakening of Pont-Audemer on Actu.frseveral scenes ofAlpha were reportedly filmed on October 23 and 24 at the 3 Îlets swimming pool in Pont-Audemer, in Eure. His side « vintage » apparently corresponded to the desires of the production who wanted to shoot a sequence taking place in the late 1980s. But more interesting still, The awakening of Pont-Audemer revealed some information about the story of the film, which until now had been very mysterious.
Alpha would take place in the late 1980s and tell the story of Alpha, a teenager rejected by her classmates because of a persistent rumor: she would be contaminated by a new disease. Although they have not been confirmed by the production, these first details fit perfectly with the director's themes, often addressing marginalized people, excluded by society, and in particular young women. The disease could also be a great playground for a possible mutation and a shift towards body horror.
Last May, Film Nation and Charades, the distribution companies, had in any case described Alpha as “Julia Ducournau’s most personal and profound film” et “a new page” in the director's career “both very consistent with his previous works and entirely new in its tone”. Words that fit well with the pitch revealed, a priori, even if nothing is certain since Julia Ducournau wishes to stay “very secret” on his next film according to 76actu.
While waiting to know more, Alpha discreetly continues his filming throughout France (he passed through Le Havre at the beginning of October) and is progressing slowly but surely. At this point, the film does not have an official release datebut with a little luck, he might be present in grand style at the next Cannes Film Festival.
