Back in 2013, an at-the-time unknown filmmaker from Uruguay by the name of Fede Álvarez exploded onto the horror movie scene with a vicious and gnarly remake of Sam Raimi’s classic The Evil Dead. After proving his chops were no fluke with 2016’s Don’t Breathe, Álvarez dabbled into action thriller territory with 2018’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web and now returns to the directing chair for a crack at another beloved horror franchise - Alien.
Set between the events of Ridley Scott’s original 1979 Alien and James Cameron’s action-packed ‘80s sequel Aliens, Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus follows a group of young miners stuck on a colonist planet who are desperate for a chance at a better life for themselves. Our main focus is Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her adopted brother Andy (David Jonsson), as the two orphans share a unique bond that’s never really been explored in the franchise before: Andy is an android, a reprogrammed creation of the almighty Weyland-Yutani corporation that keeps ordinary people like Rain and her friends in indentured servitude.
Androids have always been staples of the Alien series and have been presented as both friends and foes throughout the six previous films. They’ve even acted as a deuteragonist in the form of David (Michael Fassbender) in Scott’s Prometheus and Alien: Covenant prequels, but never have they been shown to have the kind of familial relationship Andy has with his sister Rain. The pair truly depend on and care for each other.
A bid for freedom finally arises when a derelict space station wanders into orbit, leading the group to launch a mission up to it in order to get parts for an escape to a new planet and a new future. Rain is originally hesitant about the plan hatched by her ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux) and his troublesome cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), as it relies on Andy’s capabilities as an android to help them access the station’s onboard computer.
There’s also something that just seems off about the mysterious abandoned depot floating above them, but up they go anyway thanks to their pilot friend Navarro (Aileen Wu), along with Tyler’s pregnant girlfriend Kay (Isabela Merced) in tow. As you can guess, not many, if any of them are likely to make it back. There’s quite a number of nasty extraterrestrials lurking onboard the Weyland-Yutani-owned station, and once the group unwittingly wakes them up, all manner of Hell breaks loose and a terrifying fight for survival begins.
Romulus reminds me a lot of Covenant in that both films feel like they’re caught in between trying to deliver the hits of what people expect from the Alien franchise while also presenting it with new interesting ideas or direction. That’s the curse and challenge of any sort of sequel, to be sure, but few come across as conflicted as Romulus does. Its strongest points are when it attempts something different, like its cast of younger characters and the aforementioned Rain and Andy relationship, and it's at its weakest when it goes for embarrassing legacy callbacks that feel a decade too late.
Whether these eye-rolling moments are the demands of studio higher-ups or tributes crafted by Álvarez himself is anyone’s guess, but thankfully the talented filmmaker is able to mostly overcome them with the genuinely great parts of his movie. Andy is an inspired character brought to life by Jonsson’s impressive performance and onscreen chemistry with Spaeny, who likewise delivers her own powerhouse starring role as Rain. Certain set pieces like a zero gravity shootout and a tiptoe through the facehugger aliens are some of the most enjoyable the series has ever seen, and demonstrate that the 45 year-old franchise still has plenty of life left in it when given to the right director.
Still, Romulus is a film in limbo; both a step forward and a step back for Alien as a whole. The sci-fi body horror and xenomorph action are all fun and look great, especially when the third act unexpectedly borrows from Alien: Resurrection of all things. Its core story and pair of characters are also very emotionally effective, making Romulus a pretty good film on the whole. But it’s something that could’ve been truly great if it had only removed its forced and unnecessary franchise references - it’s hard to say if even diehard fans will find them enjoyable.
Alien: Romulus delivers a thrilling cinematic experience and gives audiences a good dose of what most expect from an Alien movie, but that expectedness also ends up becoming a considerable weakness. There’s not enough that’s new here, but at least what we get is a solid and entertaining enough story with some of the franchise’s most exciting moments to boot. You win some, you lose some.
‘Alien: Romulus’ is now playing in theaters.
