Julia Ducournau’s Alpha Receives 11.5-Minute Ovation at Cannes

French director Julia Ducournau returned to the Cannes spotlight on Monday with Alpha, her highly anticipated third feature. The body-horror auteur received an ecstatic 11.5-minute standing ovation, one of the longest of this year’s festival. Visibly moved, Ducournau wiped away tears and formed a heart with her hands in gratitude as the audience roared in approval. The film, a mother-daughter thriller starring Golshifteh Farahani, Tahar Rahim, Emma Mackey, and Finnegan Oldfield, is Ducournau’s follow-up to her Palme d’Or-winning Titane.

The screening wasn’t without drama. Roughly an hour into Alpha, a medical emergency disrupted the balcony section as viewers waved flashlights and shouted for help. Paramedics arrived quickly, and one person was carried out on a stretcher. The film, however, continued without pause. While the cause of the incident remains unknown, it appeared unrelated to the film’s content, which had yet to enter its more disturbing territory. Festival officials have yet to release a statement regarding the situation.

Alpha follows a troubled 13-year-old whose return home from school with a mysterious tattoo throws her life — and her mother’s — into turmoil. With hints of AIDS allegory, the film explores themes of infection, paranoia, and inherited trauma. While viewers may expect the extreme shocks of Titane, Alpha leans more toward surreal drama than outright horror, with a signature Ducournau twist: the infected’s skin gradually turns to marble, lending a sculptural quality to the unfolding body horror.

Already a Cannes legend after becoming only the second woman to win the Palme d’Or, Ducournau continues to challenge cinematic conventions with unflinching boldness. Her debut Raw premiered in Cannes’ Critics’ Week in 2016, gaining cult status for its mix of cannibalism and coming-of-age. With Alpha, she once again defies expectations, crafting a haunting and heartfelt film that melds genre and metaphor. Distributor Neon, which backed Titane, returns for Alpha’s release — and with such a rapturous reception, anticipation for its rollout is only growing.