Alien: Romulus

Written & Directed by: Fede Álvarez

Written by: Rodo Sayagues

When Rain(Cailee Spaeny), who works on a mining planet with her brother Andy (David Jonsson), a synthetic human, are denied a visa to leave the planet, she’s encouraged by her friends led by Tyler(Archie Renaux), to join them to visit a deserted space station orbiting above the planet. On it, cryo chambers, that will give them what they need, to escape the planet and start a new life far away. But when they reach the station, cryo pods are not the only thing onboard. And rather than escape, they find themselves battling for their lives when the true reason for the desertion of the station becomes clear

The latest in the Alien franchise goes back to basics, with a grungy, retro futurist, space horror. It also goes back to the 80’s with not only its look, feel, practical effects and long dark tunnels. But also its story telling, an action thriller, short on dialogue, big on action set pieces and  jump scares.

The small and relatively unknown cast are perfect for the story. Especially the central pair of Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson. Spaeny is an excellent action hero, nicely picking up the mantel from Sigourney Weavers, Ripley. Jonsson’s loyal humanoid works well alongside her in both his loyal and reprogrammed forms.

It’s not perfect, all of its leaning into the original means it relies perhaps a little to much on the story and beats of the original film. And it does suffer the classic problem of not quite knowing when to stop, with just yet one more hurdle to jump for our heroine. But ita stretched ending gets away with it because of what has gone before But these are small gripes in what is otherwise, an entertaining, riveting space horror adventure.

Alien: Romulus is a very entertaining addition to the franchise. Its 80’s inspiration works great, with a grungy broken sci-fi look alongside its stripped back storytelling which gives a heart pumping horror adventure. And while it may not be hugely original, it is an entertaining, tense, watchable sci-fi adventure.