'Alien: Romulus' Review: A Terrifying Return to Space
Director Fede Alvarez goes back to basics with practical effects to craft a shocking thrill ride
We’ve watched many a movie coast on nostalgia these days. Hell, just the last few months is enough to make you wonder if we’ve taken a time machine back to a multiverse version of the 1990s. But when nostalgia is done right, it truly can transport an audience back to a time and place where the wonder of filmmaking could induce all manner of reactions, from laughter to tears to fear. Director Fede Alvarez accomplishes that feat with Alien: Romulus.
Set between 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens, Alien: Romulus introduces us to the year 2142 and the inhabitants of the Jackson Star Mining Company. Young Rain (Cailee Spaeny) lives on the planet with her Synthetic (android) brother Andy (David Jonsson) and dreams of leaving the murky, sunless planet for the colony of Yvaga, a presumed green place where everything is perfect. Her friend Tyler (Archie Renaux) offers Rain the opportunity to make it to Yvaga by lending him and his friends access to Andy to get onboard an abandoned ship floating in space.
Screenwriters Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues understand why the audience is there and spend little time gilding the lily that is Alien: Romulus. The audience meets Rain and Andy, discover he’s a Synthetic and then immediately meet Tyler and the gang that will convince the pair to join up with them to explore the ship that might be their ticket out of the planet. (Though you’d think after all this time kids would learn if it’s abandoned, it a house or a spaceship, it ain’t good.) This is all to the film’s benefit as the audience is forced to bond with everyone because they’re seemingly decent people and have a passion to better their circumstances. You don’t need to spend precious time learning about someone’s entire history.
That being said, the cast assembled create a rich depth that may not be on the page but is inhabited by their body language and character interactions. Take Bjorn (Spike Fearn), the cocky blowhard who picks on Andy because his mother died in a mining explosion decided on by a Synthetic. One line of dialogue and all you need to know. Or Isabela Merced’s Kay, a sweet girl (and Tyler’s sister) who discovers she’s pregnant. The young cast conveys both the earnestness and optimism of wanting to better their lot and life — particularly Kay who wants her baby to “see the sun” — while also having the broken world-weariness of young people forced to grow up way too fast. All of these characters deserve a fighting chance to make it to Yvaga but, like any good Alien film, we know that’s a pipe dream.
It’s up to Cailee Spaeny, continuing her reign as our favorite short queen, as Rain Carradine to lead us through this venture. Spaeny has shown such range in a brief amount of time, going from the wide-eyed Priscilla Presley to a frightened war photographer. Here, she is situated as our new Ripley — so much so that the third act falls into the trap of inserting a few too many direct callbacks to the 1979 film. What makes Spaeny’s Rain stand out is how underestimated she is. One scene sees her unable to close a grate because she can’t reach it — relatable! — and watching her walk around with a gun bigger than her is a fun juxtaposition for the audience. This woman isn’t a God-like person, but an average Jane placed in unique circumstances. As I said, all hail our short Queen!
But it’s Industry actor David Jonsson who is the beating heart of Alien: Romulus in spite of his character not possessing one. The mild-mannered Andy is a weakling with a stammer, routinely beat up by bullies. It’s interesting if people will see his character as disabled coded, considering his stutter and slow mental processing, written as him being an older, unused model. He says he doesn’t want to be “seen as a child” or a burden to Rain, common phrases spoken by disabled characters.
His primary objective is to “do what’s best for Rain” and Jonsson being the only Black actor in the cast opens the door to exploring white privilege. Rain loves her brother, but is willing to do whatever necessary to get to Yvaga, even if that means leaving him behind. Andy even brings this up once his character undergoes an upgrade, hearkening back to Michael Fassbender’s David character. Andy becomes the primary catalyst for the film’s second act, having both the best moments — holding a Facehugger by the time — and the more existential about what it means to be human and working for the collective vs. the individual.
Cinematographer Galo Olivares and production designer Naaman Marshall work beautifully to illustrate the grand scope of the ship, set against the bleak and unforgiving vastness of space around it. Alvarez has shown off the practical effects utilized in Romulus and it makes every emotion feel heightened because the actors are bouncing around physical creatures and sets. Olivares celebrates this, giving us plenty of wide shots of the ship to illustrate the intricacy of the set design yet can just as easily create suspense with a Descent-like shot of a claustrophobic entrance onto the ship that requires the team to crawl on their stomachs. The only irksome element with the effects is the uncanny valley of youthifying a character from the first film, who should be billed third for how much screentime they have.
Clocking in at nearly 2 hours, the film quite literally flies once the group boards the ship itself. A reveal that the ship will soon crash into a neighboring astroid belt crafts a ticking clock on things. The arrival of the Facehuggers and Xenomorph transition this into a relentless (and spellbinding) horror feature. The first Facehugger jump scare sets the tone and from there we get some grotesque body horror — Cronenberg fans will have good food — as well as a scene involving the lead Xenomorph that gives off serious “raptors in the kitchen” vibes for you Jurassic Park fans. Through it all Benjamin Wallfisch’s ominous, curious music feels lifted directly from the 1980s and intensifies every scene it appears in.
This latest entry in the long-running Alien franchise is a true return to basics, from both a storytelling and a VFX standpoint that yields dividends. Immersive, terrifying, and thrilling with an astounding cast. Dare we call this one of the best movies of 2024?
Alien: Romulus is in theaters Friday.
