The future of the Alien franchise was clouded in mystery after the 2019 Disney-Fox merger. The House of Mouse would have been foolish to leave the iconic IP untouched, but giving director Ridley Scott a third film to complete his prequel trilogy also seemed very unlikely given the divisive response to both 2012’s Prometheus and 2017’s Alien: Covenant. Flash forward 5 years, and we’re now left with Alien: Romulus, a standalone prequel set between Scott’s original Alien (1979) and James Cameron’s Aliens (1986). Helmed by writer-director Fede Álvarez, famous for the 2013 Evil Dead remake and 2016’s Don’t Breathe, Alien: Romulus has all the right ingredients to reignite the franchise’s popularity in the zeitgeist. And, to no surprise, it does so in style. By all means, this is the series comeback that Disney and 20th Century Studios were hoping for. However, that studio-driven purpose hinders its own true potential.
Bringing a filmmaker like Fede Álvarez, who’s adored in the horror community, into the Alien IP is a dream come true for many fans. The director’s taste for bleak themes, off-putting characters, and cruel set pieces is the perfect recipe to tell a new kind of Alien story. But unlike 2022’s Prey directed by Dan Trachtenberg, which brought back the Predator series, Alien: Romulus is less of a standalone genre exercise and more of a revamp with connective tissue. In this way, it does seem like there was more studio oversight involved, including the guidance of Ridley Scott as a producer, to attract as many newer folks as possible to the franchise. This retroactively hinders Alien: Romulus as it feels like it’s often more concerned with reminding audiences how spectacular, frightening, and simply awesome an Alien movie can be by retreading familiar ground rather than being its own thing.
Alien: Romulus centers on the relationship between young space colonist Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) and her synthetic android Andy (David Jonsson). Stuck in a life of servitude to the Weyland-Yutani corporation on the Jackson Star mining colony, Rain dreams of escaping off-world. She longs to set foot on Yvaga III, the supposed peaceful planet where colonists go to retire after completing their work. Moreover, it’s where the sun actually shines. Stuck in this dream, Rain only has Andy to lean on. Rain’s father, before his death, programmed Andy to be her primary caretaker — but in most cases, she has to look after him as he’s got glitches in his system. The two are barely getting by on their own when one of Rain’s old friends, Tyler (Archie Renaux), comes back into the mix with the offer of a lifetime.
Tyler is orchestrating an illegal escape to Yvaga III with his sister Kay (Isabela Merced), his cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Bjorn’s girlfriend Navarro (Aileen Wu). Rain is invited to join in, though only with the help of her synthetic Andy. Their plan is to sneak aboard a long-abandoned space shuttle orbiting just above their mining planet. Andy, being an android, can grant them access to the ship’s hypersleep chamber and look after their cryo pods while they travel across the galaxy for the whole 9 years it takes to reach their destination. With nowhere else to go, Rain reluctantly agrees. In true Alien fashion, the group soon discovers that they aren’t infiltrating a forgotten spaceship but the deserted Romulus space station, and it’s filled with secrets. Once they stumble across a room full of facehuggers that were being mysteriously stored by Weyland-Yutani, you know how the rest goes.
Cailee Spaeny & David Jonsson in ‘Alien: Romulus’
Courtesy of Murray Close/20th Century Studios
The biggest setback of Alien: Romulus has nothing to do with its relatively straightforward premise. While its “back to basics” horror approach will definitely turn off people who are expecting something as risky as Ridley Scott’s prequels, there are still enough fresh ideas present to enlighten the franchise’s lore and storytelling. This is mainly seen in the brother-sister relationship between Andy and Rain. Their siblinghood introduces a new kind of dynamic to the Alien universe, one that brings out surprising amounts of emotion within the viewer. This is the most cunning part of Fede Álvarez’s screenplay, which is co-written by longtime collaborator Rodo Sayagues. Their bond is constantly pushed to the limits, putting Rain in a position where she can turn on Andy for following his programming, especially when under eerie circumstances. Ultimately, Rain’s decision-making in these moments builds a distinct identity that separates her from past Alien protagonists.
Cailee Spaeny, who is impressively coming off both Alex Garland’s Civil War and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, leads Alien: Romulus with great vigor while still giving Rain a raw vulnerability. Likewise, David Jonsson (Industry, Rye Lane) injects Andy with the kind of pathos that can’t be easily replicated. Johnsson steals the show when Andy is unsuspectingly given a new directive relating to the Xenomorph, completely switching gears and seeming like a completely different character with his android etiquette. Rain and Andy’s sibling dynamic makes up for the thin supporting cast, which is mainly here to get their own fuc…
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Credit: discussingfilm.net
