Year of Release: 2024
Director: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu, Ian Holm, Daniel Betts
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review
Writer/director Fede Alvarez is back, following the critical and audience misfire that was "The Girl in the Spider's Web" (the hint seems to be, don't do sequels to David Fincher films). He and his writing partner, Rodo Sayagues, have tackled the "Alien" franchise, creating a narrative that takes place the events of the original "Alien" from Ridley Scott, and prior to the ones that occurred with James Cameron's "Aliens": essentially the time period (57 years) in which Ripley was in the cryogenic tube. "Romulus" focuses its narrative on Rain, who alongside her adoptive brother Andy (in reality an android her father modeled to be a protector to Rain), are trying to get out of a mining colony owned and run by Weyland-Yutani, a colony where the sun never rises. They're denied exit, even though Rain has work the number of hours that qualifies her for that exit. She is unexpectedly contacted by her ex-boyfriend Tyler, who wants to explore a derelict spacecraft, in order to retrieve the cryostasis units it holds. He needs Andy's ability to interface with the spacecrafts operating system to move around. Upon reaching the vessel, they realize it's in reality the Renaissance, a Weyland-Yutani research station, divided into two parts, Romulus and Remus, much like the ancient Roman legend. Tyler, Andy, and Bjorn go inside the ship, and accidentally revive frozen facehuggers who are all over the place, alongside a lockdown in the ship. In order to escape the situation, Rain replaces Andy's chip with one from a destroyed droid that was on the Renaissance. While they manage to rescue Bjorn, Tyler and Andy, one of their friends gets impregnated by a facehugger, while Andy's directives are also reset as a result of the new chip. Things slowly get out of hand, with Rain trying to salvage Andy from everything that is taking place.
"Alien: Romulus" stronger aspects can be summarized in a few aspects: its embrace of the B-movie quality the original film always had, the impeccable production design and attention to detail that permeates the entire feature, and the little involvement that Ridley Scott had on this film. Whereas both "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant" were undone by the mix of pretension and attempt to replicate a formula (alien + female heroine = money in the bank), Fede Alvarez goes back to the origins of the series, and basically constructs a claustrophobic thriller, where an apparently unbeatable monster, decimates a crew who is unaware of what they're up against. There isn't much dimension to these characters, however the scrappiness of their set up and the bonds they have, is sufficiently illustrated where they don't necessarily feel as simple fodder for the mayhem ahead. Alvarez takes some creative decisions, some of which are successful homages to the original film, such as bringing back Ash in the shape of the droid Rook, whereas others such as some lines uttered by Andy aren't quite as successful. There are nods to some work from David Fincher on "Alien 3" (when the alien gets dangerously close to Rain) and even to Jean Pierre Jeunet's "Alien: Resurrection" (the offspring creature), but these are details that don't feel gratuitous and cannibalization of the property, but more like a tie-in with the dna of the series. The cast is solid, though the particular highlight goes to David Jonsson's portrayal of Andy, both endearing and childlike, and equally menacing and exacting. The production team on this film is bold and fantastic, with the production design paying close attention to what was done on "Alien" and bringing a version of that with adjustments that feel logical to the series itself. The work of Naaman Marshall (production designer), and set decoration by Zsuzsanna Sipos is impeccable, as is the cinematography from Galo Olivares and score from Benjamin Wallfisch. It's an entertaining and worthy addition to the series, respecting its principles, without adding a layer of irascible pretension to it. Worth watching.
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