In theaters everyone can hear you scream - 7/10

by Jad Sammour

Sci-Fi and Horror are my favorite genres, and Alien is a franchise that famously mixes the two. I haven’t watched Alien 3 and Resurrection but I remain a fan of Alien, Aliens, Prometheus, and Covenant. I love the lore, the nightmarish biomechanical designs by H.R. Giger, the themes, and the overall atmosphere of the films. Naturally, I was looking forward to the new film albeit with caution because I really wanted a continuation of Alien: Covenant and something about this film gave me a general sense of unease and mistrust.

The latest entry in the Alien series is a product of the current cinematic era in that it brings in a young cast and pits it against pre-existing horrors and meet a character(s) from an old film, while having copious references to other entries. Now this is hardly something negative, but it starts from this familiar formula and succeeds where many failed, giving us a film that emulates the highs of the Alien series and rarely falling for its lows, maintaining a relentless story that will hook you in from start to finish.

From the opening, the film prepares the audience for a dark atmosphere with an ominous feeling and retro-futuristic designs that beautifully blend in with the original film. In fact, the film’s look is predominately copied from Alien and Aliens. The story is very straightforward, and is almost video-game like in that most of it is a task-by-task progression, from one location to the next. The first 10-20 minutes introduce us to the main cast and we know what is at stakes, then the drama and the tension kick in. The opening is a bit slow and the main characters do slightly come off as annoying but as everything unfolds you become more familiar with their struggles and decisions, though you don’t feel attached to them as the film expects you to. Cailee Spaeny plays a somewhat lackluster protagonist but I did feel an attachment towards her and her struggle and that’s mainly because she’s the only character the film puts an effort into making us care for her - I was glad she’s not a Ripley copycat, and they do something original her character and her relationship with her brother. The real star of the film (other than the sexy xenomorphs and facehuggers), is David Johnsson who delivers a standout performance, switching between two different personalities sometimes (juvenile and naive, then cold and robotic). Archie Renaux’s performance was good. Isabela Merced was underutilized. Spike Fearn was annoying, and Aileen Wu is barely in the film. The story, once they get to the station, becomes a fast-moving survival adventure, as more secrets are unfolded, the stakes increase, and a sense of claustrophobia and danger (reminiscent of Alien) starts to engulf the viewer and the characters. There are three instances in the film where important information are relayed to the characters (and by extension, the viewer) in an exposition-dump that leaves some unanswered questions or things vaguer than they should be, especially since that these pieces of information are part of the central justification of the film and the story’s existence. Moreover, the characters seemed to be not all too disturbed by the idea that aliens exist and in this gruesome fashion. The story borrows many story beats from Alien, and not just in the same way Aliens borrows from Alien. I cannot mention them to avoid spoiling some story points but knowing the other two films gives the story some tiny predictability, though some moments still hit the nail on the head in shocking you. The film works greatly when it’s detached from any direct continuity with Alien, as the direct links come off as forced and weird despite their essential nature to the story. The film’s finale has nail-biting sequences with some inventive set-pieces (one of them involving acid, looked really amazing but required a little too much suspension of disbelief). The final creature encounter has a disturbing underlying feeling in the creature design and it plays out nicely, especially the character’s emergence.

As an Alien film, it manages to do what you expect it to, albeit not to the excellency of Alien and Aliens. I don’t think it does anything bad except bringing back a certain actor from a previous film which did look weird since they deepfaked the actor’s face. The film is an indirect sequel to Alien (1979) but without affecting the lore moving forward or backwards. There was one question that needed answering and the film did not bother to - it’s a very important question that I may need to catch the film again to try and find an answer to. I liked how the film carried the essential core of the alien films which is humanity’s fragile state in an indifferent universe and the pinning of the working class between the depravity of corporate greed and the scary forces of an ever-evolving biology of a hostile nature, with the role that technology plays. This deadlock of humans trying to find hope and a better life between human, now un-human forces (unchecked corporations) and the continuously evolving nature around them (xenomorphs species) as they remain stagnant and unable to change their habits and save themselves, is the not-so-secretly underlying terror of the Alien films. Alien: Romulus includes in the scenes set on the colony a depressing depiction of life on the corporate colonies that I wish got developed further - because the hints we got were brutal and could’ve made the setup of the film more convincing, especially since the characters we are following are like immigrants from a third-world country ravaged by corporate greed and exploitation.
Additionally, the film is full of references and easter-eggs that are nice to have. They are rarely distracting except for one line copied from Aliens, and that deepfaked character which was really unnecessary and they could’ve easily changed. 

Alien: Romulus prides itself with a mostly practical approach to the creature effects and sets. Very few moments took me out of the film because they looked like bad VFX, maybe one or two - one creature that looked “off” and a CG double for a character (other than the deeply disturbing deepfake). The xenomorphs are as glorious as ever: goopy, leaky, and violent! I was so happy to see a new phase of xenomorph development that we did not get to see in Alien or Aliens. The close-ups on the xenomorphs are terrifying; I loved it! Now one thing did bug me, and that there was nothing as visceral and shocking as, for example, the alien queen reveal in Aliens: where we see her laying eggs, her “uterus-thing” extended out of her body, the undeveloped eggs leaking out of the ruptured uterus, etc… These disgusting things are what I love about the xenomorph biology and alien films that I always want to see. We do get something similar but not in the same “grandeur”. Speaking of grandeur: lots of facehuggers in this one. They’re so freaky and spooky and the film thrives on utilizing them when needed. The combination between spider and scorpion with the “vulva-phallus impregnating apparatus” is at full display here…. the freaks are back! The ending of the film has something that reminded me of Prometheus (in a good way) and I thank the filmmakers for it because it is freaky, yet needed an increase in graphic-ness. Speaking of scares, the aliens are scary and look delicious! The film has many extended moments of tension and a few effective jump-scares, but it needed to be more violent and gory and truly amp up the shock factor.

The space station and space ships looked really cool (loved the designs) and the VFX to bring them to life felt real: I think they used practical models for some shots. The visual identity of the film is interesting because as a fan of the franchise, it is hard for me to distinguish between a faithful recreation of the universe to make it seem like the new film naturally fits with the old films or as a safe-measure to create a sense of familiarity (it is probably the former). The lighting, diffusion, colors, and sets on the Remus-Romulus station feel truly in line with Alien (1979), while the scenes on the colony at the start of the film are similar to the darkness and dirtiness of the LV-426 colony in Aliens (1986). In both locations, the film had a look that sets it apart from a lot of films being made right now, especially in the dynamic lighting choices and compositions; the cinematography by Galo Olivares is one of the best this year. There were a few moments where the shadows were too crushed that the visibility was bad - not sure if this is due to the projector or how the film is designed by the filmmakers. The sound design compliments the visuals and amps up the atmosphere and the scares - really incredible sound design. Benjamin Wallfisch’s score is really beautiful. It has an old-fashioned sound to it that fits well with the film’s retro look and atmosphere.

None of this would have been successful without the direction of Fede Alvarez who did a terrific job in the director's chair (and co-screenwriting with Rodo Sayagues). He properly handled the film and knew which choices to make that mostly best served the story, world, and characters. The experience did feel slightly lacking in intensity and gore sometimes, but I was still happy with the film overall - and a bit sad Alvarez did not try to go even further and darker. I would definitely rewatch in theaters if I got the chance to. It’s got ever-increasing stakes and horrors, body horror, an unrelenting story, and space sci-fi stuff. Not to be missed! Go see it, and be respectful of other viewers in the theater with you.

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