Written By: Caleb Tiedeman (’25)
Color me surprised. It’s no secret that the last couple of films in the Alien franchise have been questionable in their quality. Even the director of the original 1979 movie, Ridley Scott’s return to the franchise resulted in lackluster films. With that in mind, I was excited when I heard rumors of a new Alien movie. Alien: Romulus is a sick name, and upon seeing the trailers, I became even more excited and hopeful that this movie would turn out great. After watching it, I am so happy with the final product.
Fede Alvarez’s take on the Alien franchise connects to both the original story and Scott’s prequels marvelously. Not only does it expand on the original story, but also adds more depth to previously established characters, monsters, and events. Despite this movie being the seventh movie made about the titular creature, in the universal timeline this movie is number four. With a smaller cast, the movie harkens back to the original Alien without repeating the same narrative. Each member felt important and relevant to the plot in some way. Despite getting killed off, each character added something of benefit to the overarching narrative. The standout was David Jonsson as Andy. He not only pulled off a believable performance as a bit of a buffoon, but a very convincing cold android one as well. I loved the homages to the original movie and the prequels as well. I rewatched the series, so I was ready for any name drops or references.
The cinematography was excellent. Alvarez’s hand behind the camera highlighted the beauty of the natural world, or in this case, space. He also recaptured the tension and claustrophobia of the original film well. The use of space itself was impressive, utilizing zero-G to create new and tense action sequences, and introducing water to add a new level of horror to the already terrifying face-hugger—both excellent decisions. The lower lighting, with the flashing strobe lights of the Romulus and various flashlights, did wonders for keeping the Xenomorph shrouded in mystery.
Both the score and sound design were excellent as well. The tense sections of the film that relied on pure silence were some of the best. The drop into complete silence followed by a piercing scream was a great way to build tension before a kill. I have to say I was very impressed with the finale. It was fresh and added a new horrifying creature to the franchise’s repertoire. The human-Xenomorph hybrid was miles better than the one from Resurrection. It retained its human form but was gangly and distorted, highlighting the skeletal structure of the Xenomorph. The scene where only its silhouette is seen was chilling! It was very reminiscent of Dead Space, and anything that can capture the quality of such a well-made game deserves praise. It will probably be the closest thing we Dead Space fans will get to a Necromorph.
I can’t wait to see this again and spot all the small details I missed. Alvarez’s contribution to this franchise is a great one and certainly should not be missed. ★
