Alien: Romulus (2024)

Dir: Fede Álvarez

Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu

Fede Álvarez’s atmospheric “Alien” revamp manages to pay homage to every entry in the beloved horror franchise, whilst injecting some fresh scares and ideas of its own

Back in 1979, audiences were left in shock as they were forced to bear witness to the horrific sight of an adolescent “Xenomorph” bursting out the chest of the late, great John Hurt. The sci-fi horror classic “Alien” adopted the appropriate tagline “In space no one can hear you scream”, which was poetically juxtaposed by the terror inflicted upon cinemagoers at the time and for many years to come. The rewritten screenplay to the classic was left on a desk at 20th Century Fox, who were initially apprehensive about producing the script up until the success of “Star Wars” in 1977, which saw interest in the sci-fi genre rise substantially. Directing duties were ultimately handed to English filmmaker Ridley Scott, relatively unknown at the time, following the release of his debut feature, the historical drama “The Duellists”.

“Alien” was a huge critical and commercial hit for 20th Century Fox, becoming an instant classic of both horror and science fiction genres. This instant success led to immediate discussions of a sequel, but Fox yet again remained apprehensive as the horror genre was on the decline in the early to mid 80’s. They were convinced however by James Cameron to greenlight a sequel based on his own script, with a tonal shift from horror to action. In 1986, “Aliens” was released to the same levels of critical appraisal as its predecessor, finally convincing Fox that they had a hot property in their hands.

Over the next couple decades however, constant studio interference and lack of direction by Fox saw the quality of the franchise decline, with both “Alien 3” (1992) and “Alien: Resurrection” (1997), failing to repeat the success of the first two instalments. There was revised optimism however, when Scott announced he would return to the franchise after 30 years, with a prequel to the series, “Prometheus” (2012), which would explore the origins of the Xenomorph and mankind itself. Despite Scott’s return, both “Prometheus” and its follow up, “Alien: Covenant” (2017), were criticised for not providing the same levels of sci-fi thrills as the franchise’s earlier entries.

Fans of the franchise’s horror origins, who struggled to digest Scott’s new philosophical approach, would have been relieved when it was announced that the newest entry in the influential franchise, “Alien: Romulus”, would be directed by Fede Álvarez. The Uruguayan filmmaker burst onto the horror scene in 2013 with his ultra-violent retelling of Sam Raimi‘s “Evil Dead”, which he then followed up with the impressively tense, reverse home-invasion horror “Don’t Breathe” in 2016. Given his brief but impressive horror filmography, I could not wait to see what direction Álvarez would take to revitalise this once thriving property.

There is a clear sense from the opening moments that Álvarez has returned to the basics that made Scott’s original so iconic almost half a century ago, as we are introduced to a heroine led crew of intergalactic blue collar workers. The heroine, in this case is Rain (Cailee Spaeny), an orphan of industry following the death of her parents on the bleak and distant mining colony, Jackson’s Star. Rain, along with her adoptive synthetic brother Andy (David Jonsson), dreams of relocating to the picturesque planet Yvaga, but is denied when her contract is forcibly extended by Weyland-Yutani, the forever profiteering corporation within the “Alien” canon.

Rain is contacted by her ex-boyfriend, Tyler (Archie Renaux), who has devised a plan to steal cryostasis chambers from a derelict spacecraft currently floating in orbit. These chambers will allow Rain, Tyler, and his crew – his pregnant sister Kay (Isabela Merced), cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Bjorn’s girlfriend Navarro (Aileen Wu) – to escape to Yvaga. What could possibly go wrong?

Unbeknownst to Rain and her ragtag group of fellow orphans, the ship they wish to scavenge, the titular “Romulus” is not quite as derelict as they had hoped. On board the ship, which is on a collision coarse with Jackson’s Star’s planetary rings, Tyler, Bjorn and Andy accidentally revive countless frozen facehuggers and trigger a lockdown whilst retrieving cryofuel.

Ditching the convoluted narratives of Scott’s recent prequels, “Alien: Romulus” opts for a refreshingly simple plot as we follow our crew of five humans and a synthetic as they fight to escape a hauntingly desolate space station, which has been overrun by the galaxy’s most “perfect” apex predator. The plot’s simplicity allows Álvarez to focus on the atmospheric world building and intense set pieces that have established him within the horror genre. Álvarez and frequent screenplay collaborator Rodo Sayagues manage to pay homage to as many entries from the “Alien” timeline as possible, whilst maintaining a fleshy, acid-blood soaked originality to allow “Romulus” to stand alone as the best in series since Cameron’s initial sequel 38-years-ago.

As it takes place between the events of “Alien” and “Aliens”, during which time Sigourney Weaver‘s badass heroine Ellen Ripley remains in stasis, it is evident from the impressive visuals that Álvarez takes most of his world building inspiration from Scott and Cameron’s efforts. Production designer Naaman Marshall has painstakingly recreated the retro-future aesthetic of the original titles, whilst establishing Jackson’s Star and the Romulus spacecraft as decrepit environments that feel lived-in and in keeping with the pre-existing Alien universe. The dimly-lit, claustrophobic setting of the Romulus allows for some nail-biting set pieces, one in particular involving the crew keeping their cool (literally) as they sneak past a horde of facehuggers in a bid to remain undetected, a nice call back to Álvarez’s previous film “Don’t Breathe”. The tension is amplified further by Jake Roberts editing, and more so by cinematographer Galo Olivares, who pays homage to the original’s setting abord the Nostromo with nods to “Fury” 161 and the USM Auriga from “Alien 3″ and “Resurrection” respectively, delivering a sweaty and visceral cinematic experience, that is as equally disgusting as it is breath-taking.

Despite the movies themselves being on the decline over the decades, one aspect of the “Alien” franchise that has remained crucial is that of its performances. Having played the iconic Ripley for almost 20 years, Sigourney Weaver’s last involvement was back in 1997, which meant the baton was passed onto those responsible in carrying on the franchise’s legacy going forward. In Scott’s prequels, we unfortunately were given largely forgettable female leads, portrayed by Noomi Rapace and Katherine Waterston, but thankfully both movies were kept afloat by the enigmatic Michael Fassbender as the conflicting synthetics David and Walter. While I do think Cailee Spaeny delivers a powerhouse horror performance here, a huge improvement on the roles given to Rapace and Waterston, her more nuanced, physical performance will unfortunately be overlooked by many. Spaeny has had a huge breakout year, with the 26-year-old delivering excellent performances in Alex Garland‘s “Civil War” and Sofia Coppola‘s “Priscilla”, the latter of which she was egregiously snubbed by the Academy for her leading performance as the eponymous Priscilla Presley. In contrast to Spaeny’s grounded performance, is David Jonsson, as the mechanically troubled and often manipulated Andy. Jonsson’s downtrodden synthetic undergoes the most notable character arc in the film, with his programming constantly shifting between serving Spaeny’s Rain and the Weyland-Yutani corporation. Jonsson, who was excellent in the 2023 British romance “Rye Lane”, is excellent at every turn, and remains likeable despite us as the audience consistently questioning as to where his allegiances currently lie.

Where “Romulus” falters slightly however, is when it becomes too reliant on its predecessors, with several narrative threads and dialogue exchanges being too on the nose. For example, the likeness of a character from the 1979 original is used continuously during the crew’s time on the Romulus, and this inclusion, particularly the extent of it, I found rather jarring. I also felt that all the hard work for the majority of the runtime was slightly let down by the final act, which felt too chaotic and out of place compared to all that had proceeded it. The finale also lacked originality as it clearly rehashes the finale’s of both “Alien” and “Alien: Resurrection”.

What Fede Álvarez has managed to achieve here is special, with a back to basics plot that recaptures the atmosphere and horror of Ridley Scott’s classic. Whilst boasting some of the best art design a horror film has ever produced, “Alien: Romulus” dives deeper into the franchise’s lore and establishes itself as the strongest entry since the 1980’s, however, it is guilty of over indulging on its source material and at times is borderline in becoming fan fiction.

Alien: Romulus is now showing in UK Cinemas

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