An Overlooked 2018 Prehistoric Survival Movie Is Climbing Netflix's Top Charts

Netflix's weekly Top 10 lists are always worth a look, not least of all because they often reveal truly unexpected gems that the streaming platform has managed to resurrect. For example, FlixPatrol is reporting that "Alpha" (a film that was absolutely overlooked upon its initial release) made it onto Netflix's Top 10 in multiple countries on April 6, 2025, and has continued to chart in much of the world in the week since then.

Directed and co-written by Albert Hughes ("From Hell," "The Book of Eli"), "Alpha" is a 2018 survival adventure in which an injured Ice Age-era young man is separated from his tribe and has to team up with a similarly inconvenienced wolf to stay alive. Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee ("Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," "X-Men: Apocalypse") and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson ("Game of Thrones," "Vikings: Valhalla"), the movie is an entertaining and exciting adventure in a relatively uncommon live-action setting. As such, it's good to see that streaming has given this largely forgotten film a new chance to find its audience.

Set some 20,000 years ago, "Alpha" focuses on a young tribal hunter named Keda (Smit-McPhee), the son of his group's chief, Tau (Jóhannesson). Keda becomes separated from Tau and the tribe after a hunting accident, but fortunately, he saves and befriends an injured wolf who turns out to be a legendary beast called Alpha. Lost and vulnerable in the wilderness, Keda and Alpha embark on a long, slow journey to safety. During their travels, they encounter many environmental dangers, including a series of life-threatening encounters with predatory Paleolithic animals.

During its theatrical run, the film's Stone Age survival atmosphere allured enough moviegoers to make a touch over $97 million at the global box office against a budget of $51 million. Considering the mysteries of movie math and the way movie box office works, this left "Alpha" well under its break-even point ... and with that, out of any potential sequel conversations.

Of course, a fan of prehistoric survival movies can always dream. The budget of "Alpha" was practically nothing compared to what streaming platforms have been known to invest in their fare. ("The Electric State" just became the most expensive Netflix movie ever, with its budget reported to be a whopping $320 million.) Who knows, if the film continues to be popular among the streaming platform's users, perhaps Netflix will give some thought to making a comparatively inexpensive adventure movie of its own.