Alien: Romulus Review | The Best Film in the Franchise Since James Cameron’s Aliens

Summary

• Alien: Romulus
  brings genuine scares and visceral thrills to revive the franchise with Cailee Spaeny shining as the badass protagonist.
• The film expertly meshes sci-fi and horror in a dark, grimy setting with excellent special effects and tension-building scenes that genuinely terrify.
• While the plot may be predictable,
  Alien: Romulus
  succeeds in terrifying audiences with its unrelenting onslaught of horror and immersive cinematic experience.

Alien: Romulus brings the bite back to a labored franchise with legitimate scares that will have audiences jumping out of their seats. Uruguayan director Fede Álvarez crafts a spooky, visceral thriller in a seventh installment, not including the awful Predator crossovers, that skillfully blends the best tenets of science fiction and horror. It’s no secret who’ll survive the carnage in a predictable plot, but narrative minutiae and logic aren’t the goal. Álvarez aims to terrify and succeeds in spades. The most significant issue is his continuous onslaught. The film toys with multiple endings when any one of them would have been good enough.

Return of the Evil Weyland-Yutani Corporation

Set 20 years after the events in Alien, a fantastic Cailee Spaeny stars as Rain Carradine. She’s stuck on a remote mining planet that never sees sunlight. Her parents were killed by a rife lung disease, leaving Rain orphaned with her synthetic “brother.” Andy (David Jonsson) begins the film as a somewhat autistic android who keeps Rain entertained with a nonstop barrage of dry jokes. He has an innocent demeanor, speaks haltingly, and walks with an unsteady gait.

The ruthless Weyland-Yutani Corporation increased mining quotas for the indentured workers. Rain realizes she’ll never escape her hellish prison without bold action. She gets the opportunity when an old admirer, Tyler (Archie Renaux), makes a chance discovery. An abandoned space station has drifted into their planet’s orbit. It will collide with the icy rings and be destroyed in less than two days. There must be working cryo chambers they can scavenge.

Rain’s skeptical that the job can be done. It’s incredibly dangerous with too many unknown variables. Tyler explains there’s no going without her. They need Andy to communicate with the station’s MU/TH/UR computer. Rain relents as there’s no hope of a better life otherwise. She should have trusted her instincts.

Unmitigated Terror in a Claustrophobic Hellhole

Alien: Romulus uses desperation as a realistic motivator. The colony is a dark and grimy pit of woeful economic subjugation. This isn’t Star Trek’s pristine white future of cheery optimism. Álvarez (Evil Dead, The Girl in the Spider’s Web) doubles down on the franchise’s industrial production design. There’s nothing sleek or smooth here. Everything is ugly, mechanical and invokes palpable dread. Claustrophobics will shudder as the characters squirm their way through tight, confined spaces. Rain’s sense of being trapped is keenly felt.

The characters are put in unnerving situations where they don’t have a clue what’s going on around them. This means that nasty critters can strike from anywhere at any time. Álvarez establishes a brilliant level of tension. One scene in particular is an absolute gem. Viewers were actually screaming in the theater. That’s an honest reaction to being frightened and not cheaply done. Álvarez avoids tiresome genre tropes by not broadcasting scares.

Unmitigated Terror

The film’s score and cinematography enable its fearsome mood. Distinguished composer Benjamin Wallfisch (Hidden Figures, Blade Runner 2049, It) is in top form here. He channels the haunting, operatic howls of 2001: A Space Odyssey to create sonic trepidation. This, combined with Galo Olivares’ eerie lighting and camerawork, sets the stage for gruesome and unrelenting slaughter. Alien: Romulus has an all-encompassing cinematic feel. That’s only accomplished when everyone behind the lens is clearly on the same page.

Quibblers can dissect the script to pieces. There are gaping plot holes that require willing suspension of disbelief. Let’s discuss the two most glaring. Everyone’s champing at the bit to leave the colony. It’s not possible that a mammoth, derelict space station, possibly loaded with valuable tech, would only be noticed by a bunch of spunky youths. Why didn’t the Weyland-Yutani overlords detect its presence? There should have been a stampede into orbit.

Andy’s abilities are also suspect. Alien: Romulus varies considerably with his synthetic strength and speed. He struggles to open a door but can somehow lift something incredibly heavy later on. Andy’s a multi-tool that works one second but inexplicably fails the next. Jonsson, who has a pivotal character arc, does a great job in every incarnation of Andy. The film thoughtfully addresses the role of AI in human lives. Andy is Rain’s closest companion, but can be manipulated. The question arises if his survival is equal to the others.

Cailee Spaeny Takes Control

Spaeny is on a roll portraying gripping, unfledged characters. Her excellence in Priscilla and Civil War continues with another young woman who’s shaped by horrific circumstances. Rain doesn’t have the physical stature or initially exude the leadership confidence of Sigourney Weaver’s iconic Ripley. But that doesn’t mean she’s not smart and capable. Rain has learned to survive on the colony’s fringes. She’s able to adapt and think clearly when the innards hit the fan. Rain evolves into a badass protagonist that uses the aliens’ monstrous features against them.

Alien: Romulus is the best film in the franchise since James Cameron’s seminal masterpiece. It’s not in the same breath as Aliens, but captures a sufficient level of gnarly theatrics, adrenaline, and unmitigated terror. Fans are going to lose their minds at an epic, second act reveal. Avoid spoilers. Alien: Romulus warrants a sequel with Spaeny taking the torch from Ripley. She’s a tremendous heroine who’s easy to root for.

Alien: Romulus is a production of Scott Free Productions and Brandywine Productions. It will be released theatrically on August 16th from 20th Century Studios.