Seven years after the last mainline Alien film, the franchise revisits space for Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus, a blockbuster interquel that introduces new lore and thrilling moments. While it vaguely attempts freshness with minimal success, Romulus still manages to inject some exciting new elements into the brand’s continuity. The result is an enjoyable but frustratingly unharmonious film verging on excellence, if not for some spiritless creative decisions.
Alien: Romulus occurs between Ridley Scott’s original Alien and James Cameron’s action-packed sequel, Aliens. When a science outpost locates the wreckage of the Nostromo, they also find the alien xenomorph ejected into space by Ripley at the end of Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror masterpiece. On a Weyland-Yutani Corporation colonial mining moon, young Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her adopted synthetic “brother” Andy (David Jonsson) join a ragtag group of colony kids on a mission to steal the cryo pods from the suddenly derelict outpost orbiting the moon and escape to a more prosperous system.
Naturally, things do not go according to plan aboard the massive vessel, and the group must now contend with far too many facehuggers and xenomorphs. The core concept promises a fresh adventure that bridges the 57 years between the first two Alien films, and Romulus’s first half sets this up well. Longtime fans of the franchise will appreciate the consistency of Weyland-Yutani’s manipulative and terrible actions, which cause Rain, Andy, and the rest to undergo their operation, as well as the expansion of Alien’s significantly isolated story.
Much like its canonical predecessor, Romulus primarily isolates its characters in space and the mostly empty, half-destroyed hallways and thin passages of the Romulus and Remus halves of the space station, which is hurtling toward the moon’s asteroid field. Álvarez, already a tenured horror director responsible for generating stellar suspense and scares in Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe, effectively utilizes the station’s expertly crafted setting to craft suspenseful scenes. Galo Olivares’s cinematography showcases claustrophobic spaces and creatures lurking in dimly lit backgrounds, adding to the film’s suffocating atmosphere.
A big selling point for Romulus was the affirmation of practical effects, which shine in the film’s fantastic production design, alien suits, and creature animatronics. These elements, reminiscent of the original Alien film, will evoke nostalgia in Alien aficionados and disillusioned horror genre fans. Overall, Romulus is a massive success from a technical and artistic standpoint, sans one glaringly distracting and disappointing character portrayal throughout the film, which shall remain unspoiled.
Unfortunately, its second and third acts fail to capitalize on the first’s efficient and original structure. As previously mentioned, some unique lore items later add tension and intrigue to Romulus and the franchise. Nevertheless, they become overshadowed by an excessive amount of callbacks and insistence on shaping the plot to resemble that of previous films. Unnecessarily nostalgic moments carry the film’s latter half, devolving from innocent Easter Eggs to nearly outright mimicry.
Whether or not Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Studios affected this overbearing inclusion of callbacks is uncertain, but they are challenging to look past. Romulus eventually becomes an amalgamation of its original story molded to accommodate specific and familiar story beats; these decisions detract from its unique identity and diminish its place in the continuity. Had Romulus stayed true to itself, its authenticity could have put it on par with the franchise’s best entries, but that sadly is not the case here.
Worsening the distracting fan service is the cast of characters, most of whom pale compared to the Alien franchise’s more charismatic and fascinating individuals. Rain and Andy inspire sympathy early on, but while Andy undergoes a compelling character arc (Jonsson is the standout), Rain’s turn feels as uninspired as all the derivative callbacks, despite Spaeny’s evident commitment to the role and the heart she brings to it. The other characters are hardly worth noting, as they are primarily dull and lifeless alien bait.
Despite some harsh criticism, it is hard to dismiss how fun Alien: Romulus can be when firing on all cylinders, particularly during its kinetic and explosive finale. In other parts, quiet moments call to mind the stealthy terror of Alien: Isolation, and there is an acceptable amount of brutal body horror (though not nearly enough by Álvarez’s standards). The cast and crew should be proud of Romulus, and most fans will undoubtedly embrace it. However, its potential brilliance—if not for what is likely studio interference—can not be understated. Alien: Romulus is an exciting and worthy inclusion into the Alien canon; it simply could have been so much better.
3.5 / 5