Alpha - Alcohol and Hockey Face Off in Evan Frayne’s Alpha

As a young boy on Vancouver Island during games of shinny, Ricky dreams of the NHL, imagines he’s Gretzky and hones his significant hockey skills with his three best goons.  Now they’re in high school and battling his own ego, peer pressure, his feelings around being adopted and his genetic predispositions, Rick attempts to navigate the various choices available to him and please his parents and his coach.

On a simple set depicting a locker room and equipped with a bench and some very effective lighting, director Angela Konrad leads Evan Frayne in a skillfully depicted series of scenes and flashbacks of various location and mood.  A supple actor, Frayne performs a tour de force imperceptibly switching roles and delivering strong characterizations of each.  The scene in which he describes the feeling of taking his first drink is bone-chilling.

Can Rick deke his personal demons and fulfill his dream of being drafted – or will a series of small choices add up to serious consequences no amount of backchecking could reverse - and leave him benched?

Liberally speckled with laughs, Alpha is a touching, important story about the desire for greatness and the loss of self.