Alpha Gang Review: Chris Pine Saves This Silly Sci-Fi Movie [TIFF 2026]

Some movies are focused first and foremost on the actors having fun, with the secondary hope (but not the guarantee) that this fun will spread to the audience. This is infamously the philosophy behind all of Adam Sandler's half-assed vacation movies. David and Nathan Zellner's latest curio "Alpha Gang" is a more full-butted production than any of those, but I suspect it also exists primarily as an excuse for a bunch of A- and B-list movie stars to have dance parties, ride motorcycles, and amuse themselves by acting very silly.

The actors' amusement here is just infectious enough to make "Alpha Gang" passably entertaining, but not infectious enough to be much more than that. Stylistically, there's a lot to admire about this bizarro alien invasion flick — a combination of the violent rockabilly chic of "Scorpio Rising" and the sci-fi B-movie cheese of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," set in an anachronistic combination of time periods and filmed at the most striking Brutalist monuments throughout Eastern Europe.

When it comes to substance, though? There's not nearly an adequate amount here. "Alpha Gang" isn't completely devoid of ideas — the theme of the aliens learning about the pain and joy of experiencing human emotions for the first time is spelled out very clearly, and some conflict late in the movie brings in some more intriguing ideas about defining identity and challenging fated obsolescence. However, it neither thinks about these ideas with much depth nor dramatizes its shallow premises with enough verve to really be compelling. The result is a movie that will appeal to cult movie fans, but isn't going to be a cult classic. Movies that try this hard to be cult classics rarely succeed.

The titular Alpha Gang are a wave of six alien invaders sent to conquer Earth by inhabiting human bodies. They use only what their castle base provides in their mission — leather jackets, a jukebox filled with '50s hits, various weapons, and knight armor. Outside, World War I and World War II seem to be going on simultaneously. The aliens' original species claims objectivity in achieving their goals, but living in human bodies brings human sensations — and the risk of catching the "disease" of emotion.

Alpha One (Léa Seydoux) is the boss who tries to keep everyone on track with the mission and refuses to succumb to the virus, but she clearly has feelings of anger and, perhaps, a deeper connection with her first follower, Alpha Two (Dave Bautista). Alpha Three (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) ponders the meaning of song lyrics and, intrigued by the idea of love, tries to ask out a messenger hawk that arrives at his window. Alpha Four (Lily-Rose Depp) wants a name rather than a number (reminiscent of the hero of the more action-packed TIFF sci-fi film "Rogue Trooper"). Alpha Five (Doona Bae) is the one most curious about sex, and is most intrigued about exploring intimacy with Alpha Six (Riley Keough), the newcomer still adjusting to a body that needs to poop.

At least half of the movie's runtime is a series of episodic skits, some funnier than others, but lacking in narrative momentum. We never get any sense of what Alpha One's world domination plot actually entails, so there's no sense of progress or failure. All the weird anachronisms are visually interesting and the retro needle drops are great, but the nebulousness of the setting ends up being a hat on a hat, too detached from any points of relatability to have something to grab onto. I thought the Zellner brothers' last weirdo comedy, 2024's controversial "Sasquatch Sunset," worked better in tying its cryptid crudity to the real world with its ecological message.

Considering "Alpha Gang" is so indebted to Kenneth Anger and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," it might have been more exciting if it was queerer and more transgressive. A small lesbian subplot and some subtext in characters choosing gender non-conforming names just doesn't match the daring of the movies it's inspired by.

I was just about ready to dismiss "Alpha Gang" as an interesting failure when Chris Pine showed up and gave the film the injection of life it so desperately needed. For one thing, he's extremely funny; his performance is by far the one best tuned to the notes of extreme conviction that a film this silly needs in order to work. For another, his character introduces a concrete conflict: claiming to be the real Alpha Six, he informs the Alpha Gang that they have a spy from their more advanced replacement group, the Beta Gang, among their ranks.

Pine's arrival turns the film into a game of "Among Us," now with an actual structure and stakes. Even after this particular episode gets resolved, the heightened energy keeps up between the greater character development of the Alpha Gang and the introduction of clear antagonists in the Beta Gang, led by eyepatch-wearing Cate Blanchett. The Alphas now fear being replaced in their mission, giving them existential concerns and more reason to care when the blue alien blood starts spilling.

I still don't really get what the film's going for with its human characters, and the final scene tries to borrow pathos from the Elvis Presley song "If I Can Dream" that it can't quite earn on its own. Even so, the latter parts of "Alpha Gang" are fun enough to push what could have been a negative review into a mixed-leaning-positive one.

"Alpha Gang" had its world premiere at the 2026 Telluride Film Festival. Looper screened it at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. Release plans have yet to be announced.