Alien: Romulus review – (Chest)bursting with potential

The Alien franchise has a checkered past when it comes to sequels, prequels, tie-ins and the overall evolution of the series. Into this storied universe comes Alien: Romulus, which serves as an interquel (whatever that is) between the original Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986).

Despite taking place slap-bang in-between the best films of the franchise, Romulus also stands relatively well on its own, in that you technically don’t need to have seen any of the previous entries. It will certainly help for some context if you have, though, as Romulus spends no time worldbuilding or reestablishing the Alien ‘Verse. It’s taken for granted you know who or what Weyland-Yutani is, but if you don’t, there are enough contextual clues to establish that the mega-corporation driving humanity’s colonial space efforts, through what amounts to indentured servitude, are not the good guys.

On one of Weyland-Yutani’s colonies, Jackson’s Star, a group of disillusioned young adults have seen what a lifetime of harsh conditions, mining accidents and disease have done to their parents, so they plot to escape their fate. By scavenging the necessary technology from a derelict space station decaying above their planet, they can make it far enough out of the corporation’s grasp to live in peace. Ring-leader Tyler (Archie Renaux) invites his ex-girlfriend Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) and her “brother”, reprogrammed synthetic android Andy (David Jonsson), to join his sister Kay (Isabela Merced) and friends Bjorn (Spike Fearn) and Navarro (Aileen Wu) on their mission of getting the hell out of dodge. Unfortunately, while the station is abandoned, it isn’t exactly empty.

Thanks to previous projects Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe, writer-director Fede Álvarez has the necessary experience when it comes to delivering claustrophobic horror films, and the Alien franchise is a great place to apply that expertise. Alien: Romulus is a back-to-basics entry: you take a group of humans and throw them on a spaceship with the perfect killing organism; and watch as they try to avoid the inevitable face-hugging, chest-bursting fate. This is Alvarez’s homage to the originals in his own style.

As part of that homage, a significant amount of work was put in to ensure that most of the effects are practical, which lends a visceral realness to the happenings aboard the station, which in turn is entirely sets and sound stages as opposed to green-screen backdrops. Leaning so heavily into practical effects has an unintended drawback though. When CGI needs to be incorporated, it’s glaringly obvious. And, in one case, a little off-putting as it veers into uncanny valley territory with the CGI reproduction of a notable franchise cast member.

While it’s obvious that much time was spent getting the realism down pat, perhaps a little more effort could have been dedicated to making the movie scarier. All the elements are there – the jump scares and gross creature closeups interspersed with shifting dark shadows and torturous body horror – but they are strung together with less tension, urgency and atmosphere than was needed to coalesce into something truly nerve-wracking.

This is no fault of the cast, though. Indeed, a lot of the tension comes from Andy, the damaged synthetic with conflicting primary directives. And as our Ripley substitute, Spaeny fills the Reebok high-tops of her predecessor well, bringing the right balance of capable but flawed to make Rain a smart and solid lead. The relationship between the two serves as a strong emotional heart for the movie.

As to where it sits in the Alien franchise as a whole, quality-wise, Alien: Romulus is leagues ahead of entries like Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, stripping away the pretention and convoluted story to go back to the roots of what makes for a good space horror film. Though, in doing so, Romulus serves as another example of how the original two Aliens can probably never be topped. In sampling and remixing the recognisable beats into a new film, you run the risk of being weighed down by nostalgia, with one or two more famous throwbacks that are uncomfortably shoe-horned in alongside a final act twist that’s heavy on the body horror… but contentious in terms of design choices.

Romulus does deliver where it counts, though. With enough heart-pounding action scenes, violent gory deaths and tangibly disgusting creature effects to satisfy any Alien fan, it is a worthy franchise entry, and blessedly simplified.

Alien: Romulus is in cinemas, including IMAX, from 16 August.