Alien Romulus

Dir. Fede Alvarez, 2024

The Alien films are one of the few franchise films that I watch over and over again. I like each and every one of them except for Alien Covenant. Covenant took the magnificent setup from the previous film, Prometheus, and just threw it all away, with the exception of Michael Fassbinder’s android character, David.

But we’re here to talk about Alien Romulus. At first I was apprehensive upon hearing that Romulus featured a Gen Z cast, because let’s face it, Gen Z’s limited lexicon is so annoying; case in point: “slay”, “fire”, and “vibe”. Fortunately, Romulus takes place in the far-off future where no one talks like that anymore.

I saw Romulus in Montreal when it first opened and then five months later at home. The big-screen cinematography and in-theater sound design blew me away with its scale, movement, and sub-bass heartbeat of terror. Knowing the relative size of the ship and the space station against the planetary backdrop and vastness of space immerses you in the passenger seat. And then the camera movements made the theater itself feel weightless, creating a stomach-dropping disorientation. It was cool! Rewatching Romulus at home, I could focus more on the plot and characters. 

Of the plot: anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. But the crew were so hell bent on going through with their scheme, because to turn back would be to face their bleak existence on the sunless mining colony below. Normally, this type of push forward would be frustrating as it was in Covenant. Covenant’s plot got an immediate red flag when the ship’s crew decided to go off mission within seven minutes of the film’s opening. They were on a carefully planned decades’-long mission and to decide to land on a different planet just because it was closer made absolutely no sense. But back to Romulus: everything just kept going wrong and getting increasingly horrific, but those kids thought they could just maybe get past this one obstacle and then the next obstacle and then get back on track. Such fortitude!

The production design and effects were excellent. Much of the creature effects were practical, lending a depth and physicality to the Xenomorphs. And just when you thought the terror and horror was over, the film delivers an overture that is as creepy and gruesome as horror movies get! As a bonus, Romulus makes a call back to something from Prometheus, adding a bit of clarity to the Alien canon. Definitely watch Alien Romulus in the dark, on the biggest screen possible. And if you don’t have a surround sound system, crank up the headphones!