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Alien Romulus Review by Oliver Grainger

Published January 29, 2025 By

Flashback to 1979 and Ridley Scott's latest film Alien has just been released in cinemas, after winning the academy award for best visual effects the alien franchise began to take shape. Now in August of 2024, the latest adaptation was released, Alien Romulus.

In the Alien Cinematic Universe, the film takes place 20 years after the original film and 37 years before the events of aliens, which was released in 1986.
The plot of the film follows a group of young friends who find an abandoned spaceship over their home planet of Yvaga. However, when they reach the ship, they find out that what they have entered is not their way of escaping their home, however is the very thing that will make sure that they will never have a place to live again.


Alien Romulus is directed by Fede Alvarez and although expands on the ending of the original Alien film, Alvarez has made it clear that Alien Romulus is also intended for people to watch and understand without having to watch the others first.


Andy, played by David Jonsson, is a humanoid whose prime objective is to do what is best for Rain Carradine, played by Cailee Spaeney. The audience first encounter the two of them together at the beginning of the film as Andy is sat telling jokes to her, which allows the audience to see early on that the dynamic between them is a caring and joking one.However, when aboard the scuttled ship, the audience see a different side to Andy because of his command chip being replaced, we then see how little the humanoids actually care about human life because he takes no issue in attempting to kill Aileen Wu once it is believed that she is infected.

Characters such as Bjorn played by Spike Fearn, are shown to resemble the hate between humans and humanoids because he hates them for what had happened to his mother, he is also seen to resemble the character trait of a maverick because although he does not appear to care about others such as Andy, the minute that Aileen Wu is in danger he acts to try and help them even at the cost of his own live.

Although movie goers, may look at the cast and see no real stars such as Sigourney Weaver in the film, actors such as Archie Renaux and Cailee Spaeney help to bring the horror of what is unfolding in front of them to life.

Furthermore, by having the xenomorphs frozen in cryochambers and having the crew members stumble upon them and unleash them, perhaps Alvarez is trying to make a point that curiousity can kill as without the characters breaking onto the ship , they would all still be alive.


The ragged clothing that the survivors seen wearing on the ship, help to show the audience that from the very start, these characters have it hard in life and therefore immediately making the audience aware of their situation in life and why they are in dire need to get off the planet.


The greasy jumpsuit that Andy is depicted as wearing, again helps the audience to realise the situation that they are all in because they work hard and have hardly anything to show for it, emphasising the desperation that they feel to get off the planet that they blame for their current circumstances.


The film features special effects such as the xenmorphs acid blood which is seen to decay the ship and add more elements of danger to the survivors. Additionally, the film stays true to elements of horror by having the creatures evolve through a cocoon which emphasises the fact that the xenomorphs are more advanced than before and poses a new threat.


The final twist in the film is seen to also stick to elements of the horror franchise as it is revealed that Kay who is revealed to be pregnant earlier on in the movie, is actually pregnant with a xenomorph which is common in horror fims as they are trying to shock the audience until they cannot believe what has happened.


The brutal nature of the kills is also seen to be a key element in the horror franchise much like the first alien as there is xenomorphs coming out of human chests which can be seen as homage to the franchise by Fede Alvarez. Additionally, the brutal kill of Tyler, played by Archie Renaux where the xenomorph bashes his head in infront of Rain and Andy, adds to the horror for the audience and characters as they have no clue on how to stop these monstorous things intent on killing them.


Furthermore, the use of the final girl motif helps convey the horror elements of the film because audiences are aware of it due to its uses in earlier Alien films with Sigourney Weaver being the sole survivor in many confrontations with the xenomorphs. However, Kay's hybrid xenomorph baby twist helps to re-engage the audience in suspension because Rain has no idea how it is possible for this to emerge and fans that only watching due to their admiration for Fede Alvarez's previous work will be shocked at the emergence of this hybrid.


Finally, Alien Romulus is a good addtion to the alien universe and not only answers questions from previous movies but also keeps the audience in suspense.
9/10

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