Alpha.

The dynamics of father-son relationships can assume a variety of forms. Some resemble the so-called “best buddy” bonds, while others can be quite toxic. And then there are those that are highly competitive, connections where father and son are constantly (and not necessarily consciously) engaged in an ongoing game of one-upsmanship as each strives to be top dog in the relationship, bonds that frequently (and curiously) exhibit both healthy respect and quiet disdain for one another. That’s very much the case in the relationship between Rein (Reinout Scholten van Aschat), a thoughtful, reserved snowboarding instructor and would-be composer living in the Swiss Alps, who’s paid a visit by his outgoing father, Gijs (Gijs Scholten van Aschat), an actor visiting from the Netherlands. It’s the first time they’ve seen one another since the death of their wife/mother three months earlier, so both are still dealing with their grief (although, admittedly, in very different ways). Nevertheless, there’s hope that this time together will promote a sense of reconnection, reconciliation and healing. However, as their reunion unfolds, the nature of their apparently longstanding competitive relationship gradually surfaces. Gijs unabashedly likes to think he’s the alpha male – a hard-drinking, adventurous, flirtatious man’s man – while Rein sees himself as more introspective, contemplative and politically correct, despite the fact that his passively assertive side routinely emerges, particularly when the two hit the slopes and embark on a challenging mountain climbing expedition. It’s almost as if Junior wants to show up the Old Man while still thinking of himself as the more cool, composed and mature one. But this generational competition takes a decidedly hazardous turn when father and son find themselves in serious danger from the extremes of the elements, conditions that are bigger than both of them. So what’s to become of their connection now, given that their mutual safety has be...