Alpha

It all starts with A. When the capital letter A is carved into the arm of Alpha, her mother, a doctor, fears that the tattoo might have infected her with a mysterious virus that turns people to marble. As for Alpha, the blood-gushing tattoo earns her bullying ostracism from the class. Following up to Raw and Titane, the Palme d’Or-winning Julia Ducournau is back with another nightmarish body horror, synonymously featuring teenage girls overwhelmed by inexplicable physical changes. Forcing us to stare into the dark, putrefied corners of our own psyches, this gory period piece effectively evokes the murky paranoia of misogyny and homophobia in a tortured AIDS allegory.

Cannes Film Festival: In Competition