’Alien: Romulus’ Review

With ‘Alien: Romulus’, Fede Álvarez has solidified himself as a director who can take on legacy horror franchises and deliver simple, entertaining sequels. This entry feels like a reaction to Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and Covenant: while those films focused on expanding the mythology, frustrating viewers with their perceived priority on ideas over excitement, Álvarez has stripped away all such high-mindedness in favor of straightforward thrills.

The film opens with Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her android “brother” Andy (David Jonsson) working in a mining colony operated by the nefarious Weyland-Yutani corporation. After learning they need to work for years longer before the company will allow them to leave the colony, they meet up with an old friend, Tyler (Archie Renaux), who has found an abandoned Weyland-Yutani ship and has hatched a plan to commandeer it and flee to greener pastures. They soon find out, however, that this ship was less intentionally abandoned, and more ripped apart by murderous aliens.

While none of the cast are bad, this film falls into a similar trap as the other recent entries in the Alien franchise. The original film is filled with, for the most part, middle aged actors and actresses who all look like they were pulled from their blue collar day jobs. They feel like they belong in this dystopian space crew. They are grown ups, not the typical horror movie victims, which makes their eventual deaths that much more shaking. When confronted with the xenomorph threat, they make reasonable decisions, if not always the perfect ones, and die anyway. This movie, in contrast, is filled with 25 year old models, actors you expect more from a generic slasher. And some of the deaths come not from a superior predator, but as a result of bad decision making compounded by more bad decisions. While Álvarez makes the most of these death scenes, delivering the gruesome and gory kills he has proven himself adept at throughout his career, they fall short of being truly scary.

As a director, Álvarez is at his best in the silence. The opening sequence contains no dialogue, and follows a spaceship as it approaches an unknown object, absorbing it into its loading bay. The visuals and music are ominous, setting the tone for the film. And yet, after this sequence, Alvarez doesn’t really have another opportunity to show this skill, except for one thrilling sequence in a dark, silent hallway filled with facehuggers. Mostly, there are nonstop sounds: whether it be the score (good, but persistent) or generic Hollywood sound effects and action sequences. The constant noise undermines the tension that is so perfectly built in the original ‘Alien’, as the xenomorphs are at their scariest when they silently stalk their human prey in the isolated, lonely depths of the spaceship.

As is standard of legacy sequels such as this, there are plenty of call backs and tie ins to the original films, be it dialogue, characters, or shot composition. These moments range from groan-worthy to insulting, a sign of a meddling studio executive demanding changes, foreseeing an audience filled with Leonardo Dicaprios from that ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ meme, pointing at the screen in excited recognition.

Despite its flaws, its echoes of better movies, and sometimes generic blockbuster action, ‘Alien: Romulus’ delivers a straightforward and entertaining sci-fi thriller. Derivative, yes, but if you enjoy alien vs human suspense and action, you will undoubtedly enjoy this movie.

Alien: Romulus
Rated R for bloody violent content and language.
Running Time: 1 hour and 59 minutes

Director Fede Álvarez
Writers Fede Álvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Stars Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu
Rating R
Running Time 119 Minutes
Genres Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller