“Alien: Romulus” is the canonically 7th movie in Ridley Scott’s Alien Franchise, written and directed by Fede Alvarez and produced by Scott.
Fans of the Alien franchise, of which I include myself, have been counting our chickens since Alvarez was announced to helm the picture – many fans of his Evil Dead remake as well as his original horror, “Don’t Breath”. We believed in Alvarez’ horror pedigree, and had high hopes for the gore and terror he could bring to the always endangered employees of Weyland-Yutani.
And boy did he deliver.
Much like Remus and Romulus founded Rome to unite the empire, Alvarez has united the two tiers of the Alien universes, tying in themes and plots from nearly every Alien movie to date.
Alvarez opted to shoot practical effects wherever he could, employing many members of the original Aliens VFX team from 1986. In a market where most actors are playing in front of blue screens and digital villains, ships, mining colony, and creatures in A:R are a breath of fresh air.
The movie follows a young woman named Rain and her adopted android brother Andy, a damaged synthetic who was reprogrammed by her father to protect after his death. Andy, unlike most androids in the Alien franchise, suffers from data leaks and has the mind of a child, serving as the only form of levity in a very bleak film.
Rain and Andy are presented an opportunity to escape the mining colony they are currently assigned to, which harkens back to the founding of America and indentured servitude. Rain’s only goal is to escape the planet of Jackson’s Star, a planet with clouds so dense, Rain has never seen the sun.
Facing a contract that will take her well into her 40’s, Rain accepts her ex boyfriends proposal: SPACE HEIST!
Rain’s ex-boyfriend Tyler (It’s always a Tyler) has a plan to get them off the colony: All they have to do is fly into space, board a derelict Wayland-Yutani vessel, and steal the cryo pods inside. They could then install them in their own ship and fly away to freedom.
And why do they need Rain for this? They don’t. They need Andy. The droid can interface with the Weyland-Yutani ship and bypass any security they may encounter. Because security in Alien movies should be bypassed.
Oh, and if there weren’t enough stakes already, the derelict ship with all of the booty is on a collision course with Jackson’s Star’s beautiful planetary rings and will be completely destroyed in thirty-six hours.
Sounds simple enough. What could go wrong?
Everything. Everything is about to go wrong.
Rain, Andy, and Tyler are joined by his sister Kay, his cousin Bjorn, and Bjorn’s girlfriend Navarro, and together they fly to the ship, where they discover what every group in Alien discovers: Things are not as they seem, and help isn’t coming. Because in space, no one can hear you scream.
And scream they do. This is an Alien film through and through. People die in visceral ways. Alvarez flexed his Evil Dead muscles more than once in this film, as the blood and guts are constantly on display. The deaths are not only gruesome, but disturbing. And plentiful. I won’t spoil any of the twists or turns, but there are returning characters, returning plot devices, new revelations about the xenomorphs, and the scariest final boss I think I’ve ever seen on screen. Upon seeing this unholy abomination, I kept repeating the name of my new sleep paralysis demon: SlenderMan-Baby. Don’t overthink it, just go see the movie. You will think of me and laugh and that’s why I do this.
Alvarez pulls off the impossible in ‘Alien: Romulus’ by taking an existing IP/franchise/tentpole, of which the market is oversaturated, and squeezing something original and fresh out of it, especially in this current market of max saturation CGI in the era of FRANCHISES.
His eye for horror, practical effects, as well as his pacing (My God, the tension) and his character relationships continue to shine. Not since “Aliens” has a cast had so much chemistry with each other.
Alvarez also has his first blockbuster hit on his hands with A:R as the film has already doubled its production budget of 100 million, raking in 229 million worldwide thus far, with positive word of mouth exciting fans and executives alike who are hopeful about its continued theatrical performance and expected streaming success.
“Alien: Romulus” is currently playing in all theaters and is expected to hit VOD in mid to late October, making it the perfect flick to watch at home this Halloween.
