One of the stranger films at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival is Alpha Gang, the brainchild of David and Nathan Zellner. Alien invaders, dressed as a 1950s biker gang, come to Earth on a mission to conquer the planet and wipe out the inhabitants if necessary. What starts as a wild and zany sci-fi comedy quickly stumbles and fumbles, failing to find its footing and leaving a frustrating film.
The cast is stellar, including Dave Bautista, Léa Seydoux, Lily-Rose Depp, Kelvin Harrison, Doona Bae, and Riley Keough. Their characters have no names, which sparks some great moments as they try to pick actual names, only to fall into the Alpha One, Alpha Two, Alpha Three, etc. category. But that still couldn’t save it.
The Zellner Brothers’ Alpha Gang Has a Great Cast
Transferring to Earth with only a fraction of their true selves — bloody inconvenient, time travel — they are soon overcome by emotions and the disease known as “love.” Since they all have it, they spend most of the movie grappling with their emotions while trying to complete their mission.
Along the way, there are dance parties and discoveries, and later Chris Pine and Cate Blanchett join the fun in even more over-the-top roles, adding to the movie’s already ludicrous events. While that’s not a bad thing, it eventually gets a little repetitive, with little substance for the audience to chew on. It makes for a weird mix of strange, hollow feelings, with not much happening in terms of depth.
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You can’t say they didn’t try, though. The cast all seem to be on the same page, at least, and fully committed to the weirdness the Zellner brothers brought to this film. The dance numbers, the dialogue, the outfits — they all kind of embraced them, which would be necessary if you wanted the actors to be believable.
Among the main cast, Bautista and Seydoux seem to be having a great time in particular. Pine and Blanchett are all in, making their over-the-top performances memorable. There were situations where emotions were hard for humans to control, so these aliens in human form had some rather ridiculous and funny reactions, to be sure.
Alpha Gang Is Ambitious, But Doesn’t Land
However, Alpha Gang fell flat, mainly due to a lack of direction for the characters and bland moments that were just boring. There are gaps in logic along the way, which is expected when dealing with aliens, but in some instances, this bunch seemed very ill-prepared for the mission ahead.
There are situations where that was, in theory, supposed to be part of the humour, but even that seemed unclear at times. You have to give the Zellner brothers credit, though. They went all in, like the cast, and were determined to stay the course from the beginning to the end of the film.
I came away from watching Alpha Gang feeling more confused than anything else. The final act, the big battle, was a weird mess, as if everything, including the kitchen sink, had been thrown in. In the end, a promising idea with a great cast fell short, as the zany alien biker-gang appeal lost its luster far too soon.
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