Jay Rohr
Alien: Romulus is a rollercoaster running through a haunted house. This sidewise sequel resurrects a franchise with long overdue fresh ideas alongside an intensification of familiar frights. Yet, the film doesn’t just deliver scares. Alien: Romulus creates suspense by toying with emotions.
The film follows a group of young people desperate to escape an off-world mining colony. The crooked corporation who runs the place has them trapped in virtual slavery due to a kind of indentured servitude. When a disabled space station passes close to the planet, they see an opportunity to steal equipment that would allow them to flee to a possible paradise lightyears away. However, within this derelict is a creature composed of pure nightmare fuel.
The basic premise is a robbery gone wrong as thieves find themselves in far more danger than they ever anticipated. In that regard, director Fede Álvarez is right at home having piloted a similar concept with 2016’s Don’t Breathe. No surprise, he penned both scripts with the help of Rodo Sayagues. But Alien: Romulus isn’t a cluster of recycled concepts.
Visually and thematically, this is a far grander film. Even when using ideas from the legendary franchise, Álvarez takes the movie in a new direction. Alongside the familiar metaphors about birth and sex is a compelling take on growing up. The protagonists of Alien: Romulus, especially Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) as Rain Carradine, don’t seem much older than high school students. Made orphans by corporate indifference, they all know their only hope for any kind of life is this ill-conceived heist.
That creates stakes from the get-go, and the illegality of their endeavor means they can’t call for help. This establishes the isolation of their situation as well as the fantastically frightening nature of the film’s domino horror. Each decision creates consequences which either intensifies the scenario or requires another set of problematic choices. In other words, Alien: Romulus is a logical, organic spiral of bad or desperate decisions leading to worsening options.
What makes this great is that characters are established early on. Alien: Romulus excels in its opening by creating an impression of people and their relationships through simplistic yet effective action as well as dialogue. It isn’t hard to get a sense of characters’ personalities and relationships given how they interact with one another. Furthermore, director Álvarez captures the sense of a world existing outside the main players. Relatable people in a grim situation making understandable decisions connects the audience to the overall horror. We want certain individuals to escape, we get why they’re making bad choices out of panic or desperation, and honestly, any of us could make the same mistakes.
The roles which the film focuses on do get more development, but the filmmakers convey that through concise conversations coupled to expressive performances. David Jonsson (Rye Lane) steals every scene as the heartbreaking Andy, a defective synthetic programmed to be Rain’s brother. Through that character, Álvarez manipulates emotions creating tragic expectations, pulling heartstrings that turn the audience towards terror. At the same time, not to risk implicative spoilers, but as Andy grows, a certain suspense ensues as one wonders if he can be trusted.
Cailee Spaeny is solid as Rain, a young woman determined to escape her circumstances no matter what. One of the more obvious plot points is that in an Alien franchise film she will rise to the occasion so to speak. However, her performance couples with a script that shows her building to that outcome.
On one hand, Alien: Romulus is composed of familiar elements from the iconic films. Production design did an excellent job capturing the franchise’s retrofuturism. There are cramped, claustrophobic interiors reminiscent of the 1979 classic, and areas harkening to 1986’s Aliens. Yet, despite several easter eggs, the nostalgia triggers aren’t just bait. They’re woven into the story in ways that make them accessible to newcomers. That means this could be someone’s first Alien film and they will not be lost. Sure, traces of previous flicks are present, but no one needs to get those references to understand what’s happening.
And what transpires is truly a nightmare. Fede Álvarez delivers an ever-intensifying series of lose-lose scenarios. The use of audio effects is especially engaging establishing a dynamic range to heighten stings, screams, and unsettling sounds. The main creature is used sparingly yet effectively. One excellent scene simply involves the heavy sound of its movement. As such, the monster remains a thing in the shadows that strikes without warning. That said, Alien: Romulus relies on jump scares a bit, but it does them well. Furthermore, frights that franchise fans may expect are presented with delightfully intensified grotesquery.
It’s truly rare to see heartbreaking moments in horror. Death isn’t always given the opportunity to seem like tragedy as scary movies tend to present gruesome demise as part of the fun. The grief is palpable in Alien: Romulus with characters sometimes given a chance to wail in agony before needing to pull themselves together. Even when blown by due to circumstances, the film manages to circle back having a moment to reflect on a blood puddle — all that remains of a close friend.
Alien: Romulus is exactly where this franchise needed to go to stay alive. Thematically it resurrects the expected criticisms of corporate capitalism as well as the films’ sexual subtext. More importantly, it tells its own, surprisingly touching, story about kids becoming adults the hard way. Additionally, Fede Álvarez didn’t just make a movie that reminds audiences of a film they already enjoyed. He uses the building blocks from iconic fright flicks to construct a story all his own. That makes this interquel a standalone movie, while any nostalgia it triggers is a sweet bonus.
Cailee Spaeny does a solid job as Rain, but it’s David Jonsson who captures the screen. Of course, the real star is the titular creature which here remains an unrelenting source of multifaceted scares. Though seventh in the franchise, Alien: Romulus is the best in years.
