Movie Review: Alien: Romulus

I may be in the minority, but I actually liked the recent Alien sequels that delved deeper into the lore behind the creatures. I can understand why some found them disappointing though, and I fully support the decision to return the franchise to its more straightforward horror roots. Given his impressive work on the 2013 Evil Dead reboot and 2016’s Don’t Breathe it seemed like Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez would be the perfect choice to do just that, and thankfully he doesn’t disappoint.

This movie picks up two decades after the original Alien and begins with a Weyland-Yutani probe exploring the wreckage of the Nostromo and obtaining a piece of debris that contains a dormant Xenomorph. On the mining colony Jackson’s Star, Rain (Cailee Spaeny) is on her way to request a transfer to another planet, having fulfilled her quota with the company. Her parents both died from mining-related causes years ago, leaving her alone with her adopted brother Andy (David Jonsson), a “synthetic human” that her father had programmed to help her (and who he also filled with a litany of endearingly groan-worthy “dad jokes”). The company representative informs her that the quotas have all just been doubled and that she will be unable to leave for several more years, leaving her feeling angry and dejected.

Outside she chases off some kids who were tormenting her brother, and then runs into her ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux), who gets her to come with him so he can tell her something. Already at his house are his sister Kay (Isabela Merced), cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Bjorn’s girlfriend Navarro (Aileen Wu), and they are all planning to head to a derelict company spacecraft floating in orbit around Jackson’s Star in order to obtain its cryostasis chambers, allowing them to travel the long distance to the far more pleasant planet of Yvaga. Rain is reluctant to go with the group, especially given Bjorn’s antagonistic behavior towards her brother, but realizing that Weyland-Yutani is unlikely to ever let her leave she agrees.

Once in space they discover that the abandoned craft is actually a very large science station that is sinking towards their planet’s rings, adding a sense of urgency to their search. Even more concerning, once onboard it begins to seem as if the station might not be quite as abandoned as they first thought. Still, they don’t encounter anyone else beyond a heavily damaged android, science officer Rook (a combination of Daniel Betts and Ian Holm, who died in 2020), and so continue with their mission. Things get considerably worse however when they accidentally awaken several frozen face-huggers, starting the group on a desperate fight for survival.

As with the original films, Alvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues take their time getting to the action, instead allowing the lingering sense of dread and eerie atmosphere to slowly build up suspense while also giving us time to better get to know the characters. Once the pace picks up, the larger plot beats are similar to those of Alien and Aliens, but pulled off with such a strong sense of visual style and fundamental understanding of how to generate fear that it’s a blast to watch.

The face-huggers have always had an icky creepiness about them, and that is amplified by the decision to have them lurking around like spiders waiting to pounce. The xenomorph itself is a classic of creature design that needed no improving and remains impressively menacing here, even if its familiarity will likely lessen its impact for those familiar with the other films. In the finale however, Alvarez does introduce a new enemy that will likely haunt more than a few nightmares thanks to its disturbingly off-kilter appearance.

Amidst all the frights they do manage to mix in some stunning outer space cinematography, and the sequences of the station colliding with the icy rings of Jackson’s Star are spectacular. The cast may be light on big names but each of them give strong performances, with Spaeny especially nailing what’s needed of her role and Jonsson impressing with his turn as a droid showing signs of internal wear. As is usual for the genre some poor character decisions are required to put the cast in danger, but there is at least enough logic behind them to make them easy to overlook. With several impressively tense set pieces, a few grisly bits of body horror, and some clever but reverent twists on the series’ fomula, Alien: Romulus is the best franchise entry in decades and easily my favorite horror film of the year so far. ★★★★★