In helming Alien: Romulus, director Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) understands his role perfectly: pay homage to the iconic Alien franchise, deliver an abundance of heart-stopping scenes riddled with blood and sludge, poke perhaps the evil, meanest space monster in cinema, and step back to let the chaos unfold.
Alien: Romulus is set between Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic Alien and James Cameron’s celebrated 1986 follow-up Aliens, seamlessly integrating into the original films' narrative.
That's not to say that Fede's imprint on the movie was non-existent.
On the contrary, the shocking visuals, unrelenting violence, and mastery of heightened suspense to keep viewers constantly on edge have the stamp of Fede's fingerprints all over them.
As a fan of horror films and someone who adored the Alien franchise while growing up—Fede considers it the "Star Wars of horror"— making the movie is a dream project for the Uruguayan filmmaker.
Fede tells The Reel Roundup, "Actually, Alien was inspired by body horror, science fiction, monster movies.
"I think Alien is such an iconic thing, we can go and make another Alien and there's still an audience out there that loves it."
Alien: Romulus: Synopsis
A band of young people—Rain (Cailee Spaeny), Tyler (Archie Renaux), Kay (Isabela Merced), Bjorn (Spike Fearn), Navarro (Aileen Wu)—explores an abandoned space station to scavenge.
The group is joined by a synthetic human named Andy (David Jonsson),
The space station, unknown to them, is home to deadly entities, most notably the Xenomorph—a notorious endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species featured in the early Alien films.
Their seemingly adventurous journey quickly takes a sinister turn, leaving them with no option but to confront a bloodthirsty lifeform face-to-face.
STRONG COMEBACK FOR THE ALIEN FRANCHISE
Alien: Romulus is a fitting return for the iconic sci-fi movie franchise that terrorized cinemagoers years ago.
The gloves come off the moment Rain and the gang set foot on the derelict space station, with events unfolding in a fast-paced yet meticulous manner.
There’s no complex storyline here and viewers are in for a suspenseful, bloody thrill ride with seemingly endless twists.
Alien: Romulus scores with intense, in-your-face thrills, drawing from its predecessors while elevating both suspense and violence to deliver more shock value— and it succeeds spectacularly.
While familiarity with the earlier Alien films, especially the first two installments, would help, viewers unfamiliar with the back story will still have no trouble enjoying the film.
With filmmaker Fede in the driver's seat, Alien: Romulus skillfully blends the best elements of sci-fi and horror, delighting both space enthusiasts and fans of jump scares.
For one, Alien: Romulus marks the brand's return to audience consciousness, bridging the gap between die-hard fans from the past and the new generation of viewers.
This latest installment proves that the Alien saga endures, and can thrive in today’s dynamic and creative landscape where sci-fi and horror are more immersive and often closer to reality than we ever thought possible.
Alien: Romulus is now showing in cinemas nationwide.