The Home of Extra-terrestrial Horror is Back!

The Alien franchise has been on something of a downward slope. Recent releases carrying the original’s name have not exactly been… stellar. The last truly good entry, Prometheus, held the promise of an origin story of truly epic proportions.

Sadly, the sequel Alien: Covenant proved to be less than fantastic. I’m sure many long-time fans of the series, those who will go to see this latest instalment, will feel the same trepidation I felt as I took my seat in the cinema. This series has had too many ups and downs, too many attempts at redemption, only to be set back by cash grabs like Alien vs Predator—both one and two—that took the franchise back to its roots in the mind of James Cameron.

Those worried about this latest instalment can rest easy, knowing that it’s not only in the hands of a great director, writer, and cast but is also capable of making you feel real terror. For the first time in a long time, I saw a Xenomorph on screen, and my heart actually beat faster with dread—the first time in a while I cared whether the characters lived or died. This might be a one-off film, and perhaps it should be. Perhaps it should be the last entry in this great and glorious franchise, which has lasted across two millennia and nearly five decades.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more of the Xenomorph in the future. If the ending is handled with the same care that keeps the central horror and thriller themes alive, as in the Sigourney Weaver-led original, I will be back—this time, far less nervous about whether one of cinema’s most famous monsters is about to be butchered again.

Alien Romulus is set chronologically between the first and second Alien movies. It follows protagonist Rain Carradine and her adoptive synth brother, Andy, on the colony of Jackson’s Star. Seeking to end their contract with the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Rain and her brother agree to rob a rogue space station about to drop into the planet’s rings.

With a crew of thieves, they set out to plunder the station—divided into Romulus and Remus—to find cryopods to take them to a new world. Unfortunately, the group runs into a batch of facehugger eggs. Before they know it, one of them has been infected, the station’s timeline has shifted from 36 hours to 45 minutes until crashdown, and Andy has been reprogrammed by an agent of the company.

Desperate and with limited time, this crew of would-be colonists must fight for their survival and their future. Directed and written by Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe), Alien Romulus stars Cailee Spaeny (Civil War), David Johnson (Industry), Isabela Merced (Instant Family), and Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone).

The star of the show is undoubtedly Spaeny, who, as Rain, adopts the role of a young femme fatale meets terrified slave labourer. Much like Ripley in the original film, Rain often serves as the voice of reason, rational thought, and realism. None of her actions feel forced, and that applies to the entire cast, who all play their parts well. There are no “dumb” moments that don’t feel real.

When the characters make decisions we, as the audience, might question, it’s because we’re aware of information they are not. Every time they interact with the alien or each other, it feels exactly like what they would do if the scenario were real.

And it almost feels real. A huge hats off to the prop department, who clearly worked tirelessly to create a film set that makes me believe I’m looking at a space station orbiting a ringed mining colony. When the Xenomorph appears, I found myself wondering whether they had created some mutant creature in a secret Disney lab to make it appear so realistic on screen.

Everything has a grounded feel to it—actions, dialogue, setting, and purpose. It’s difficult to criticise this film. That said, I didn’t enjoy the side plot involving Merced’s character’s pregnancy. To me, it felt like it was mainly introduced to create a false sense of stakes. It wasn’t needed to build tension and felt reductive.

I’m treading on the edge of spoiler territory here, so I won’t say much more. I will say, though, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who predicted the twist in the film’s final act. Speaking of acts, I felt the pacing was slightly forced. This was perhaps the only aspect of the narrative that did feel contrived.

This is something I personally had issues with, as I felt there was more that could’ve been included to build tension. Cutting the timescale from 36 hours to 45 minutes was perhaps necessary to create a sense of urgency, but what transpires in those 45 minutes is quite a lot.

Those are my only real problems with the film. I enjoyed every other aspect, and as a writer, I always find myself looking at how I might approach things differently. Ultimately, the director’s choices created the need for the desperate actions that led to despair, death, and daring feats.

I do hope this film remains a standalone. While Alvarez demonstrates masterful skill in creating an Alien film with a perfect formula similar to Cameron’s, the story has been done to death. Like nearly every Alien, it might be time for the franchise to die and stay dead (though I doubt the box office returns on this film will be enough to stop Disney and 20th Century Fox from rolling out Alien films well into the next century).

8.5 out of 10.