Alien: Romulus (dir. Fede Alvarez)
By: Adam Freed
45 years ago virtuoso director Ridley Scott bestowed to the world the apex predator of science fiction horror films, Alien. In the haunting chasm of silent space, filmgoers first witnessed the sternum rupturing power of the Xenomorph, Scott’s menacing creature of nightmarish design. Through the decades, the torch that is the Alien franchise has been passed through some of the most capable hands in directorial history. Scott was followed by James Cameron (Aliens, Terminator 2), David Fincher (Alien 3, Se7en) and now the franchise lands in the sturdy hands of Uruguayan horror master Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe). The result of Alvarez’s command is Alien: Romulus, a visually inspired intergalactic hellscape, unafraid of wielding its minimalist design in pursuit of maximum terror.
In the ancient story of Romulus, the title character, along with his twin brother Remus, survived abandonment in infancy by suckling at the breast of a mother wolf, one that rather than devouring the two babies, nursed them to strength. Eventually Romulus grew powerful enough to found the city of Rome, but in so doing murdered his twin in a fit of rage. There was a heavy price to pay for the strength Romulus garnered from his unnatural interspecies origin story. The lessons of this cautionary tale were certainly not lost on Fede Alvarez as he penned the script for Alien: Romulus. It is difficult to create for film fanatics a feeling of originality in a franchise that has now spawned its seventh iteration, yet through his unique vision, Alvarez provides no fewer than a fistfull of visually profound moments in which even the most callused of sequel despising pessimists will sit in disbelief.
Walking in the wake of giants is not as easy as it may seem. Yes, Scott, Cameron and Fincher blazed a Xenomorph sized trail which Alvarez now walks, but the comparisons to those legends will be inevitable. The victory here is not that the Uruguayan filmmaker surpassed his predecessors but that he injected the franchise with his own vision. There are very clear nods to previous installments, but the tonal DNA of Alien: Romulus feels far more akin to Alvarez’s Don’t Breathe (2016) than Fincher’s Alien 3. Despite a formful of facehuggers and onyx tinted drooling demons, it is very clear that Fede Alvarez relished the opportunity to make this film in his image and the franchise is far better for it.
Romulus is populated by a refreshingly young and vibrant cast of characters fronted by a compelling performance by Cailee Spaeny (Civil War). Spaeny’s Rain and her A.I. brother Andy, portrayed magnificently by David Jonsson, find themselves roped into an undercooked plot to escape the infinite darkness of the space mining colony in which they live. When the opportunity to venture deeper into the galaxy in search of sunrises and literal greener pastures is too much to resist, Rain and Andy find themselves in a position of infinite remorse. While the reasoning behind many of the decisions made within Alien: Romulus may leave room for question, it is the tension provoking presentation of these events that leaves no doubt that Fede Alvarez will soon be mentioned amongst the great directors of the franchise rather in comparison to them. In 1979 the world learned that “in space, nobody can hear you scream” and this weekend, millions of science fiction lovers will be given plenty of reasons to do exactly that.
Target Score: 8/10 Fede Alvarez leaves an unmistakable impression with his iteration of the Alien franchise. His pulse pounding intergalactic horror film is an undeniable thrill ride sure to please franchise loyalists as well as act as an unforgettable welcome to its newcomers.