"Alien: Romulus" Film Review

Alien: Romulus

Rating: 5/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson

    For decades now, the Alien franchise has experienced some really high highs and really low lows. After Ridley Scott's Alien and the sequel created by James Cameron, it feels like the franchise didn't really know which direction to take, releasing films that go from passable for the franchise to borderline terrible. When Fede Álvarez was announced as the next filmmaker to tackle a film in this long-running series, I was genuinely excited. I thought his previous films show his potential as a horror filmmaker, and it seems like he is trying to channel the horror and spark of the original in his 2024 film. Thankfully, this movie is absolutely incredible, easily the best film in the series since the original two films that came out decades ago. 

    The film takes place between the first and second films, during the time where Ripley is in cyronic sleep to travel back to her home planet after the space station USCSS Nostromo was destroyed by a Xenomorph alien that found its way onto the station. The ship is now considered a derelict spacecraft, and has found its way near the mining colony of Jackson's Star, where Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) and her adopted, android brother Andy (David Jonsson) are stuck working on after they have become orphans. When it seems like all hope is lost to escape the colony and return to their home planet of Yvaga, she gets a message from her ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux), who said he has an opportunity for her. 

    Him and his crew, which consists of his sister Kay (Isabela Merced), his cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Bjorn's girlfriend Navarro (Aileen Wu), have found the Nostromo and are preparing to depart to steal the cyronic stasis camber so they can travel back to the planet together. What they don't expect is to find that the Xenomorphs have been living and growing in this ship, just waiting for someone to come along once again. 

    This film is the ultimate return to form for the franchise. It is obvious the influence Scott had on Álvarez as a filmmaker, and he really channels that here. The movie does a fantastic job of scaring the daylights out of the viewer without having to really show the terrifying aliens that have been terrifying audiences for years now. He is able to allow them to lurk in the shadows and wait until nearly an hour into the film to really show one of these creatures. While many filmmakers would have a hard time doing this successfully, Álvarez does it perfectly, building suspense in perhaps one of the best ways possible. 

    He also combines this terror and thrills with such vivid character and story development. Each character in this film has a reason for the way they act and the things they do, which gives even the most hated character here reason for why he is the way he is. Álvarez spends a lot of time in the beginning of this film to craft these characters and really make them feel real, which then pays off in the end as you don't want certain characters to die and rooting for them to make it off the space station alive. If he didn't add in this context for all of the characters, I truly don't think the film would have succeeded as well as it did. 

    When we get into the real horror elements and the introduction of the Xenomorphs into the film, they are all done spectacularly. Álvarez wanted to use more practical effects than anything, reminiscent of the early Alien films; they all look so damn good here. The aliens are constructed so well and are absolutely terrifying, and Álvarez makes sure to not overuse them. He wants them to strike when it is the scariest point of the scene, and he does so perfectly. At the same time, there is a certain alien form towards the end of the film that will be the stuff of your next nightmare. 

    Not only are the graphics and the practical effects great, but so is the cinematography for the entire film. I went and saw this in IMAX, which the film was shot almost entirely in, and it blows you away in every single scene. It's so immersive and really puts the viewer into the film they are watching, and is just beautiful from beginning to end. 

    Now, with the acting present in the film, I couldn't imagine anyone better to play these roles. As the lead, Spaeny is incredible. I have seen her being hailed as the new Ripley, which is a pretty impressive feat to reach, but I would say she is doing a great job of creating her own character here. She is fantastic from beginning to end, and does a great job of giving such an emotionally-charged performance here. I honestly think Spaeny is going to become one of the biggest actresses in the world in the next couple years, and this is just another film to add to her impressive filmography so far. 

    The rest of the cast does a great job as well, especially Jonsson who gives such a great performance as this android. He really embodies this character, and it pays off in the final product. Renaux is great at playing the captain of this ragtag group, and Fearn does his job of playing the dickhead character that makes the audience root for his downfall throughout the film. Merced and Wu give good performances for their respective characters, even though they didn't have as much screen time as the other players here. 

    Álvarez proves how great of a modern filmmaker he is, and this is easily one of the best Alien films ever made. This is everything I could have ever wanted for another addition to this franchise in this day and age, and this just perfectly shows a great sci-fi horror film can be made today. Álvarez and his cast and crew have made one of the best sci-fi horror films in the past couple of years, and I would definitely be on board for another Alien film made by this incredible director.