Almost fifty years later, directors are still struggling to replicate the deep space dread of Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece, Alien. This is a daunting task for any director, but especially when attempting to reboot the franchise almost a decade after Scott’s own deep space stoner philosophical prequel films, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
Given his horror tenure, writer and director Fede Alvarez was more than qualified to rise to the challenge with Alien: Romulus, a film that looks the part but feels narratively beholden to its predecessor.
Romulus follows a group of colonist miners looking to escape their indentured servitude to long-time series baddy, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Protagonist Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her “adopted” synthetic brother Andy (David Jonsson) team up with Rain’s ex-boyfriend and his friends to pillage a derelict ship hovering in orbit. The group needs the ship’s cryostasis chambers to journey to the idyllic planet of Yvaga for a fresh start. Naturally, their plan goes sideways when they uncover it isn’t a ship but a Weyland-Yutani research station home to everyone’s favorite “perfect organisms.”
Alvarez was a more than fitting choice for an Alien reboot, given that he was at the helm of the fantastic 2013 Evil Dead remake. Alvarez’s remake respectfully builds upon the storied foundation of Sam Raimi’s 1981 classic while applying his signature flair of creative brutality. Alien: Romulus continues Alvarez’s success at delivering disturbing horrors in pre-existing IP sandboxes while subsequently playing it a bit safe.
On the one hand, our characters’ backstories and the film’s heist premise are a fitting foundation for a new Alien tale set between the events of Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s 1986 sequel Aliens. The underlying theme of rebellion against capitalism run amok in the space age is integral to Alien’s identity. We’re given a brief glimpse at the ugly realities of colony life thanks to Weyland-Yutani’s rule, such as blue-collar workers being viewed as expendable, in addition to indentured servitude like work contracts being suddenly extended without reason (thus baring workers from leaving the planet). It is an oppressively bleak existence, as days are measured not in hours but in metrics of suck.
Further emphasizing the film’s thematic and emotional life force is another memorable 2024 performance from Spaeny and a franchise-best performance from Jonsson. The pair’s relationship reinforces the familial casualties of the destructiveness of Weyland-Yutani’s practices and as Rain cares for her synth brother in a world that largely rejects him.
Romulus’ narrative stumbles when it is seemingly reading from the presequelreboot playbook, ham-fisting references to prior films, and needlessly and directly connecting to other films in the series. While far from the most egregious of examples, especially in the horror genre, Romulus’s inability to be a one-off tale set within the universe feels as if it limits the potential of what could have been a wholly unique crack at Alien.
In speaking to the world of Alien: Romulus, the film is easily the most faithful entry to Scott’s original. Romulus’ bleak tone is emphasized in the stellar set and sound design, which Alvarez boasts was essentially practical. Each spacecraft and its corridors tell stories of long space hauls and overworked conditions. Condensation coats, improperly fastened cables, and unkept corridors speak to the disaster this out of their depth crew has stumbled upon. Every shot is complimented with stellar lighting, effectively turning every environment into a foreboding ambush point for that which goes bump in the night.
It isn’t an understatement to suggest that cinematographer Galo Olivares deserves an Oscar nomination for their work here.
While it is apparent that Alien was Alvarez’s bible in making Romulus, the fantastic stealth horror game Alien: Isolation from Creative Assembly and Feral Interactive was a clear source of aesthetic inspiration. Small notable touches here and there, the circular vents, analog phones, and computer screens, replace the 21st-century tech of the prequels in favor of the originals’ rough and tumble blue-collar aesthetic. They are making a film that honors the timelessness of Alien while being presented with modern, pristine precision in what is a gorgeous-looking and sounding film from start to finish.
However, for as successful as Alien: Romulus is in crafting a suffocatingly effective haunted house in space when it comes to our perfect organisms, the film doesn’t always capitalize on Alvarez’s panache for creative nastiness. Kills often feel like the hits of the series, a face being punctured by a xenomorph’s tiny mouth here, a chest-burster there; the hits, if you will. It isn’t so much that these moments should be excluded; it is an Alien film, but they feel relatively routine. In addition, it is not always evident for a movie that emphasizes practical effects, especially when presenting the xenomorphs who have a level of VFX shine to them that I didn’t love.
It is not all gloom and doom, as there are several instances of Alvarez still utilizing the Alien sandbox in new and dread-inducing ways. Romulus presents face huggers more terrifying than ever before (during one stealth sequence involving our crew sneaking past face huggers, you could hear a pin drop in my theater). There is a scene in which characters utilize zero gravity to avoid, now floating, pools of Xeno’s signature acid for blood, which serves as a spark of originality that I wish was more prevalent throughout Romulus.
My reverence for the Alien franchise undoubtedly left me wanting more from Alien: Romulus while still being able to say that this is an entertaining, if not distracted, return to the franchise. Even when the film feels like it is revisiting the franchise’s greatest hits, I had a big dumb grin on my face, thanks to a stellar-looking production from start to finish. However, I wish the film took more risks that would ultimately usher in a new era of stories told within this universe that I love so much.
REVIEW SCORE – 3.5/5
