Re-enter the world that brought you face huggers, chest bursters, and acidic blood with Alien Romulus. Directed by Fede Alvarez, best known for Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead.

 

The film follows orphaned Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her adopted synthetic brother Andy (David Jonsson) who are seeking to leave the mining planet Yvaga ran by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. When she finds out that her contract is extended Rain tries to come up with a plan to escape this dark and dirty planet. That’s when a group of her friends led by Tyler (Archie Renaux) offers her the chance to travel to a decommissioned Weyland vessel that is floating above the mining planet to retrieve hyper sleep chambers. In this group are Tyler’s pregnant sister Kay (Isabela Merced), Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Navarro (Aileen Wu). What they do not know about this station is that it was used to study the original Xenormorph from the first Alien (1979) film - after Ripley blew up the Nostromo and sent the alien out of the air lock. What they thought was going to be a simple scavenger job will become their biggest nightmare.

 

I don’t want to give too much of the film away, but it all takes place on this one vessel. The crew is small, and most of them are not going to make it. It wouldn’t be an alien film if there were more than one or two survivors. To sum it up, this movie packs a punch. From the claustrophobic setting to the gore, action, and then the practicality. The practical effects are what make for a great alien film. The previous two films, Prometheus and Alien Covenant, were reliant on CGI and were bigger in scope. Plus, the actors in Alien Romulus were lesser known, and that makes it more difficult for the audience to guess who will live or die. If Sigourney Weaver was going to be in this film, then you would obviously guess that she would survive, but in this film it’s anyone’s guess about who will survive. I think Spaeny and Jonsson were the best of the acting ensemble because of their rapport. They really felt like family and that they deeply cared for each other even though Andy is a synthetic human. Other than that, the rest of the ensemble was okay, but most of them did not make it to the end of the movie. If you plan on seeing this film, try to watch Prometheus, Alien Covenant, and then Alien in that order. The only downside about the film is that it is connected to the prequel films. It’s up to you how informed you want to be about previous events heading into this film.

 

Overall, this has everything you would want in an alien film and more. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would consider buying it when released. So, head to the theater or drive-in at least once to see this thrilling and claustrophobic film before it’s too late.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5