Film Review – Alien: Romulus

August 16th, 2024 | POSTED BY Sarah Ksiazek

My brain is still processing the IMAX screening of Alien: Romulus (2024). Wholeheartedly, I never thought I would like it, much less be on the verge of loving it. The original Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) are not my cup of tea. The stories are good, but the gore and horror elements of the films are much less appealing.  That was when Prometheus (2012) entered the chat, and I loved the lore of the Xenomorphs and the Engineers.  When director and co-writer Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) became attached to the newest entry in the Alien saga, I thought this new film would be heavy on horror and slim on the storytelling part.  I am glad to report that I was somewhat wrong.

Alien: Romulus’ buildup to its release kept its place in the Alien timeline vague.  While it is apparent that this is not a follow-up to Prometheus or Alien: Covenant (2017), its filming style, the cat and mice games, and the 8-bit computers employing MU/TH/UR suggest it fits right along with the first films.  Where it sets itself in the timeline exactly may be up for debate.

The film opens with its main character, Rain (Cailee Spaeny), dreaming of a planet and its sun.  When awoken, we find her in a Weyland-Yutani mining colony called Jackson on a planet without light, and the feel of the colony is very Blade Runner-esque (perhaps a nod to producer Ridley Scott).  She and those among her are indentured servants, doomed to stay there until they fulfill the credits on their contract. Most are born there, dreaming of leaving, but many die of diseases or from working in the mines.  Rain’s “brother” is Andy (David Jonsson), an android or synthetic Rain’s father saved from the trash.  Rain’s luck changes when a group of friends hastily devise a plan to leave and take over an abandoned outpost above their planet with cryotubes and the ability to take them away.  Rain contemplates why the company would abandon such a place but eventually joins the group with the key to getting into it, Andy.  The group consists of Rain’s love interest, Tyler (Archie Renaux), his sister Kay (Isabela Merced), Tyler’s friend Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Bjorn’s girlfriend and ship navigator Navarro (Eileen Wu).

The context clues abound about what will happen when the group reaches this abandoned outpost and why it is just sitting there. The Weyland-Yutani group always tries to use Xenomorphs for something, usually for profit.  It is too bad it never works.  Has it ever worked?  The group is led to slaughter while they are trying to save themselves from a desolate, brutal planet.

For the horror and gore aficionados who long for the earlier Alien films, the film is sufficiently packed with Xenomorphs and all the versions of their lifespan wreaking havoc on the bodies of this group of young humans and causing grisly deaths.  These encounters allow Alvarez to flex his horror muscles, employing some terrifying new ways for these people to be tormented and killed, and even one that tells The First Omen (2024) to hold its beer.

The outpost is seemingly vast and dark, with two different substation halves, Romulus and Remus, brought together as one. Their purpose heavily foreshadows Weyland-Yutani’s plans. The outpost’s immense size is not grasped fully by the audience, and the endless running through dark corridors, vast loading docks, huge rooms, and other designated spaces make for a confusing traipse for the characters as they run along grated floors with sliding doors always ready to slam shut.

There are callbacks to other Alien films that establish connections to the other films’ stories, and a couple of them made this Prometheus-loving girl gasp.  The Xenomorphs and their life cycles are faithful, save one intriguing new entry.  Alvarez tried to use physical models and costumes rather than relying wholly on CGI, and the film is better for it.  The only noticeable drawback is the rigidity of the Facehuggers and how they essentially looked like models on wheels.  Everything else presented looked amazing, even on a massive IMAX screen.

While Callie Spaeny’s Rain is the main character, her brother and protector in David Jonsson’s Andy is the best character.  His arc goes from a timid, derelict android doing his best to follow his directive to one stronger, colder, and more capable of a new directive.  He changes from endearing and someone needing protection to the one who does the protecting.  Jonsson’s voice, facial expressions, and body language absolutely sell Andy, and honestly, is someone who I could watch perform all day in this role.  He is truly the most intriguing part of the film.

Fede Alvarez and his co-writer Rodo Sayagues took a shot and produced a worthy addition to the Alien saga.  It belongs along with the others and does not always feel like a rehash of the same material, Xenomorph v. Human.  They were able to add some elements that are unique to it but also build on or reference the other films.  The film does not stop pulling the audience in and keeps them on the edge of their seats for the length of it for what may seem like the inevitable end.  The third act is its strongest and most chilling.  Alien: Romulus is 119 minutes of terrifying yet delightful madness. 

Alien: Covenant, Alien: Romulus, Aliens, Archie Renaux, Blade Runner, Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Don't Breathe, Eileen Wu, Evil Dead, Featured, Fede Alvarez, Isabela Merced, Prometheus, Ridley Scott, Rodo Sayagues, Spike Fearn