Fede Álvarez’s ‘Alien: Romulus’ (Spoiler Review) – Building On The Past While Setting Place For More

This year has seen many interesting horror films come to theatres. Audiences are now graced, thankfully, with yet another entry in Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking Alien franchise. Co-screenwriter, executive producer, and director Fede Álvarez delivers his take on the series in a successful and similar fashion to his directorial debut, the 2013 Evil Dead film.

Bridging the gap for old and new fans alike, Álvarez and regular collaborator Rodo Sayagues present the most interesting script amongst the modern Alien films. Alien: Romulus acts as a standalone entry set between Scott’s original 1979 film and James Cameron’s Aliens. In an intriguing fashion, Álvarez & Sayagues’s script connects nearly every film in the entire series to this new one. Alien: Romulus is sure to please many wishing for a return to the survival horror elements of the series’ early entries. Facehuggers have never been more terrifying than in Romulus.

Night & Day

The film’s setting is a great juxtaposition of the typical settings of Alien films, particularly the earlier entries. Alien: Romulus begins by giving audiences a retrospective introduction on just exactly how the Weyland Yutani Corporation finally found the creature. Thus, it leads to the continued births of Xenomorphs in Cameron’s film. These small breadcrumbs are some of the best connections to the overarching universe essentially created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett (Alien screenwriters) as well as Ridley Scott (Alien director) and Cameron.

Romulus introduces the mining colony of Jackson’s Star, a planet that gets zero sunlight whatsoever. Young orphan Marie Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) is deadlocked in a mining contract to eventually leave. However, here viewers are reminded exactly how worthless lives are to the company, as her “quota” will never really be met no matter how long she works. Presumably when she was only a child, her deceased father reprogrammed a decommissioned synthetic android named Andy (David Jonsson) to act as her surrogate brother.

Rain agrees to accompany her ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux) to a derelict ship, the Renaissance, to retrieve cryostasis pods to make the trip to Yvaga III. The three of them along with others — Kay (Isabela Merced), Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Navarro (Aileen Wu) — fly the mining hauler Corbelan IV and discover the ship floating above Jackson’s Star. They also find that it is actually a research station containing two parts — Romulus & Remus. Upon their entry into space, the mining colony’s sun is finally seen. The sun shines into the station several times throughout the film. This is a great departure from the earlier films in the series — a heavy influence on Romulus — and makes it stand out a bit more. Many times the films are set entirely in deep space or a dark planet. Because of that, playing around with the sun’s lighting is welcoming.

Respecting the Original Material

There are several obvious callbacks to Scott’s original film, and even his prequel films, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. However, one scene is particularly eye-rolling just due to the execution of the scene itself. Deceased actor Ian Holm, who portrayed the synthetic Ash in Alien, is digitally referenced in face and voice as Rook. Daniel Betts physically portrays Rook, reactivated by the group. The use of Holm feels like a way to establish a harder connection between the three films — Alien, Aliens, and Romulus — and remind some fans of the dedication of the original character to the company. The computer-generated imagery (CGI) itself is not very distracting. Yet, the main point of Rook felt as a way to explain more about the company’s true goals to the audience.

However, while the scene also didn’t feel disrespectful, its exposition ultimately felt unnecessary. If the film cut the sequence entirely, it really would not change much. Moreover, Alien: Romulus adds many great elements to the series, and there are several homages to that throughout the film. The fourth film, Alien Resurrection, features a really cool underwater sequence with the Xenomorphs. In Romulus there is a wild sequence in ankle-high water where the facehuggers are unleashed. It gives a new meaning to aquaphobia. The entire usage of facehuggers throughout the film is fantastic.

There is another sequence in which Tyler, Rain, and Andy have to cross over from the Remus side into the Romulus side with only one way to go. Turning up the room temperature to match their bodies, as they cross through the hallway you can just feel how gnarly it is with dozens of facehuggers ready to leap right at them. The creatures feel like a force all their own somehow.

Romulus and Remus

Andy is rebooted with a module taken from Rook, which changes his directive to benefit the company. This leads him to betray his original programming, and thus his sister, Rain. The tiny juxtaposition of this act is similar to the story of Romulus and Remus. Romulus ultimately murdered his brother, Remus, founding Rome in his ashes. During the film’s second act, Andy allows the Xenomorph to take Kay, who is pregnant devastating her brother Tyler. This act continues to reinforce the complication of these synthetics and usually, they will sacrifice one life for that of many. There is also much political subtext within the film as the characters know they will never get what they want out of the company. Rook acts as a physical embodiment of these ideals, similar to Ash in the original film. He is perhaps another reason for the use of Ian Holm’s likeness.

After Navarro is implanted with the Xenomorph seed, which lays waste to the group, Bjorn is killed whilst saving Kay. Kay is eventually rescued by Tyler and Rain, where they stumbled upon a nest of Xenomorphs. In a climactic scene, Tyler sacrifices himself at the last moment, giving Rain time to help Kay escape back to the ship. Rain is able to remove the module from Andy, resetting him to his original programming. The entire sequence is very fast-paced surprisingly well. The resetting of Andy was also interesting as it felt like he would’ve rather died than truly help.

Third Act Craziness

It would seem uneven to not discuss the wild turn that the third act of the film takes. Aboard the research station, Rain retrieves vials of a DNA compound from the Xenomorphs. Rook calls this strain “Prometheus,” in relation to events of that prequel film by Ridley Scott. This continues to connect this new film to the entire Alien franchise as well. Furthermore, after escaping the station, Kay, Rain, and Andy attempt to go into cryo-sleep, as Kay goes into labor. She injects herself with a strain of this compound, thus giving birth to an offspring, a Xenomorph-human hybrid. The creature’s face specifically looks just like the Engineers of Prometheus, humanoid creatures from that film that tie into the creation of humanity within the Alien universe.

After Kay and Andy are both critically injured, in a sequence that feels in some ways exactly like the final sequence of the original film, Rain begins to fight back against the hybrid offspring. She eventually ejects it into space, as it crashes into the colony’s rings via asteroid belt by means of the Corbelan’s cargo bay. Surprisingly, a few specific lines are borrowed from other films in the series, all spoken in the third act. More than anything, these lines feel like a callback to a more fun Alien film made with care. They do not feel out of place in Romulus.

Technical Elements

Alien: Romulus features amazing practical effects on display. The puppeteering of each facehugger is great. The chestburster scene, which apparently took nine puppeteers at once, is fantastic on its own. Lee Gilmore and Chris Terhune’s sound design makes Kay’s scream even more bone-chilling than it seems. The reveal of the terror to come is great. Most of the CGI feels like it was used for the space scenes and, of course, the “return” of Ian Holm. Álvarez’s direction is key in the film, as directors of photography Galo Olivares and Pedro Luque’s camera work feels like it’s simply following along the innate destruction of the group. The camera does not feel obstructive or weirdly angled. The slow pullbacks and tracking shots are some of the best in the Alien series.

Music composer Benjamin Wallfisch’s score is great as well, which is sparingly used in conjunction with the sound design. The score truly adds to the film’s existential dread, as the characters leave the darkness of their colony and encounter the sun. This just dove into even more darkness, and as deeper as they traverse into the station, they find hell. Carlos Rosario’s costume design is standout, as the jacket Andy wears is so slick and cool. Likewise, Rain’s Asics are so damn earnest. The use of H.R. Giger’s original design from the first film for the Xenomorph in Romulus felt like the best callback to the series’ better moments. The translucent alien skull is a little creepier than any other.

Final Thoughts on Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues’ Alien: Romulus

Fede Alvarez could easily be trusted to take on another franchise after Alien: Romulus. Moreover, there is definitely room to tell another story with Rain and Andy, as many of the films end on a similar note. It is refreshing that Romulus does not do anything against the franchise either. The tone of this film feels like the earliest moments of the series. Overall, it’s just epic to see such a wild swing taken in its final moments. Romulus should satisfy even the most controversial Alien fans and introduce this out-of-control world to new ones.

4/5 stars

Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues’ Alien: Romulus is now playing in theatres everywhere!

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