Movie Review: ‘Alien: Romulus’

08/28/2024 by Corrye Van Caeseele-Cook

Plot: Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, director Fede Alvarez’s latest entry in the popular franchise centers on Rain (Cailee Spaeny), an orphan working on the mining planet of Jackson’s Star. With her adoptive synthetic brother Andy (David Jonsson) Rain’s only family, she longs to escape her circumstances. However, when Weyland-Yutani forcibly extends her contact, Rain turns to her ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux). Tyler hatches a desperate plan to retrieve cryostasis chambers from the Weyland-Yutani research vessel Renaissance (divided into parts Romulus and Remus) and escape to the planet Yvaga. Little do they know that hiding onboard is the Company’s dirty and deadly secret, the perfect organism known as the xenomorph.

Review: Since director Ridley Scott’s seminal horror masterpiece Alien debuted in 1979, the franchise has ranged the gamut in terms of success. From marvelous masterpieces (Aliens, Prometheus), to misunderstood gems (Alien 3, Alien: Covenant), to schlocky fun (Alien: Resurrection), to worthless detritus (AVP: Requiem), audiences have seen and experienced it all. It’s been seven years since moviegoers have enjoyed seeing our favorite xenomorphs and facehuggers onscreen and rather than conclude David’s story from Alien: Covenant (something I hope one day happens), the powers that be handed the reigns to acclaimed horror director Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe). While certainly a noteworthy name, I honestly wondered if Alvarez could breathe new life into a franchise that’s been in cryosleep for the better part of a decade.

Well you can forget CPR, as Fede Alvarez’s fresh take on a decades old franchise hits like a high voltage defibrillator shock to the chest. Slick, savage, dreadful, and as terrifying as it is terrific, Alien: Romulus delivers the goods in horrific fashion. Fede Alvarez somehow manages to produce a story uniquely his own while operating inside the parameters of a well established IP. While Alien: Romulus occasionally leans a little too hard into fan service, I’m astonished this movie exists in the era of venture capitalist studio interference.

Just from a mere technical standpoint, Alien: Romulus stands out. Outside of Dune Part Two, this film is the most stunningly beautiful of 2024. Galo Olivares’ generates some phenomenal cinematography, whether it’s capturing the drudgery and desperation of Jackson’s Star’s lightless hellscape, the breathtaking beauty of space, or the claustrophobic nightmare of the Romulus research station. Additionally, Fede Alvarez does an excellent job of properly lighting Alien: Romulus, a thing becoming inexplicably rarer in films. His ability to play with light and shadow while simultaneously being able to see what’s happening cannot be commended enough. Combined with a stellar score from veteran Benjamin Wallfisch and Oscar worthy (yes I’m serious) sound design from Lee Gilmore and Will Files, these elements create a pervasive sense of dread throughout Alien: Romulus. Indeed, Alvarez and his team manage to recapture the “haunted house in space” tone of Alien, something I was not expecting. My body was tense the entire time as I wondered what fresh Hell awaited me around the next corner. Yes there are jump scares, but goddamn do they ever work.

Credit also has to be given to Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues’ script which works best when it endeavors to do its own thing, rather than service the fans. If you’re going to play in an established IP that’s already eight films deep, you have to provide audiences something new. Thankfully, Alien: Romulus delivers just that, with a scene involving facehuggers (not the one in the trailers) and another involving the xenomorphs’ acid blood that are as innovative as they are anxiety inducing. My main issue with the script was when it included classic lines from previous Alien films or orchestrated some otherwise camera winking moments for fans of the franchise. It was unnecessary, detracted from the movie, and reeked of studio interference. I’m positive these choices weren’t the work of Fede Alvarez but the House of Mouse. At least audiences can take solace in that. Having said that, Alien: Romulus does connect to Prometheus and Alien: Covenant in an interesting way I appreciated.

Additionally, Alvarez and company are able to weave some excellent themes into Alien: Romulus without them being giant virtue signals. One of the critiques I keep hearing about this latest edition in the franchise is that it isn’t about anything which perplexes me. It makes me think they watched an entirely different movie than I did. One of the fundamental themes of the first Alien was the horror of being subject to a faceless corporation that doesn’t give a solitary fecal unit about you. If anything Alien: Romulus reinforces that idea. Rain and her compatriots are cogs in the Weyland-Yutani corporate machine, a machine that keeps moving the goal posts so you can never get ahead. They are slaves to an entity that always chooses the bottom line and to do what is pragmatic rather than humane. This is bolstered by the actions of Andy later in the film when he receives an upgrade. Hell if that isn’t relatable to the vast majority of humans occupying planet Earth (including myself), then I don’t know what is.

Moreover, Alien: Romulus explores three other relevant and timely themes. Andy (as well as another recognizable and prominent synthetic that I will not spoil here) represents humanity’s increasingly complex relationship with artificial intelligence. At the heart of the matter is who gets to utilize A.I. and to what ends. Vastly different consequences result when you have an empathetic person like Rain at the helm as a opposed to a corporate monolith like Weyland-Yutani. Secondly, the concept of body autonomy takes center stage late in film when the pregnant Kay (Isabella Merced) is forced to make a decision about the health of herself and her baby. The fact that the decision is thrust upon her and that it strips her of her own autonomy results in one of the most horrific and timely moments in the entire film. Lastly, and perhaps the most personal to Alvarez since he comes from Uruguay, Alien: Romulus is ultimately a story about trying to escape a third-world country, with Jackson’s Star the stand-in and the xenomorph the monster that attempts to prevent you from leaving.

I also have to commend Fede Alvarez for giving audiences characters that we care about. Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla, Civil War) delivers another excellent performance and proves why she’s a rising star in this industry. I really connected to Rain’s journey and it helps that Spaeny doesn’t try to be an Ellen Ripley clone. Spike Fearn also showcases a delightful douche bag performance as the callous Bjorn, a character you love to hate and hope dies horribly. Kay (Isabela Merced) and Navarro (Aileen Wu) are also solid supporting characters with Kay’s story playing a vital role late in the film. Yet it’s David Jonsson’s turn as the android Andy and Rain’s surrogate brother who impresses the most. A Dad joke quipping synthetic that often proves more humane than some of the humans, I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. His abrupt shift once he receives an upgrade astounded me. This dude possesses the acting chops in abundance and I can’t wait to see where Jonsson’s career takes him.

Fan service grievances aside (as well as some almost incomprehensible accents early on), I thoroughly enjoyed Alien: Romulus. Fede Alvarez delivers a pulse-pounding, terrifying, and thought-provoking film that proves a worthy edition to a long existing franchise.

Four and half decades on, in space no one can still hear you scream.

My rating system:

1 God Awful Blind Yourself With Acid Bad

2 Straight Garbage

3 Bad

4 Sub Par

5 Average

6 Ok

7 Good

8 Great

9 Excellent

10 A Must See