I don't think Alpine.js and HTMX qualify as "Modern JavaScript". There is an approach that is rarely talked about: render templates in Django and hydrate using your favorite JavaScript framework.

For example the Django template renders a <template id="abc"><button disabled>open modal!</button></template>. Then your JavaScript bundle can "hydrate". For example ReactDOM.render(<OpenModalButton />, '#abc'').

You just have to be diligent to make sure that the template and your front-end have somewhat similar markup to not have layout shift. It's really not that hard and works for a lot of use-cases.

Not saying this is a golden bullet, but you should be able to figure out which parts are static and just render them using Django templates. The dynamic parts you can render/hydrate using whatever front-end framework.

I built a Django app with very little JavaScript and only using HTMX and it was... alright. It works. I can say "no fancy build step!" but I totally miss the testability of modern frontend. Creating an image upload component was a pain. I don't think I would use HTMX again and instead go for the hybrid approach I described earlier.