Director: Fede Álvarez 
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 119 mins

Alien: Romulus is the latest in the franchise and represents a change of course after Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and Alien: Covenant prequels. Directed by Fede Álvarez, Alien: Romulus is an interquel, set between the events of Alien and Aliens. It follows an entirely new cast, with a group of young space colonists in pursuit of better life conditions after being treated poorly by the Weyland-Utani corporation. 

Legacy sequels seem to be in-fashion at the moment, with films such as Halloween (2018), Terminator: Dark Fate and The Exorcist: Believer ignoring previous, lesser-regarded films in their respective series. While the approach to break free of poor sequels is an admirable one, not all legacy sequels have been positively received, with some creating even more irreversible damage. Álvarez is most notable for his horror work and made a name for himself with the Evil Dead (2013) remake and Don’t Breathe. While these films are fine, Álvarez has always been a more visual director than one with thematic depth which doesn’t make him a natural fit for Alien. 

Unfortunately, Alien: Romulus is an outright disaster. The characters are unlikeable and paper-thin, there’s no thematic depth, the script is ear-scraping and there’s a complete lack of tension. Furthermore, Álvarez makes the grave mistake of including tedious moments of fan service, but they certainly didn’t service this fan. Most embarassingly, Alien: Romulus makes Alien: Resurrection seem a competent film. 

The problem is Álvarez and fellow screewnriter Rodo Sayagues’ script, which is just woeful. The characters speak unnaturally (Spike Fearn’s Cockney geezer Bjorn is particularly grating) and there’s no development. The first 45 minutes of the film are thunderously boring as we are introduced to the characters. Whatever your opinion of Alien: Covenant, Ridley Scott economically introduces the colony ship crew and we know who’s who very quickly. Other than a couple of snippets of Rain’s (Cailee Spaeny) upbringing and how her reprogrammed android surrogate brother, Andy (David Jonsson) has come to be the way he is, Alvarez gives us nothing. 

Because Álvarez either knows he’s not adding anything new to the party or is lacking confidence that his idea can carry a film, he litters the film with ‘fan service’. There are numerous callbacks to previous films which drag the film down, especially the reprise of one of Sigourney Weaver’s iconic lines. But the worst crime Álvarez commits is by including a character (or more specifically, a related character) who featured in a previous entry and it’s shoddily recreated using CGI and AI technology because the actor is no longer alive. Ethical concerns aside, it adds nothing to the film and the visual effects are embarassing. 

Aside from the shoddy visual effects, the film’s murkily shot by Galo Olivares. The film lacks any of the technical wonder of Ridley Scott’s prequels. It’s quite interesting how those films too, also have large sections set in dark environments but Dariusz Wolski is a far more accomplished cinematographer than Olivares in that he is able to bring out the wonder in them. Even Benjamin Wallfisch’s score fails to make an impression, who chooses to ape Jerry Goldsmith’s original Alien riff rather than forge any creative path of his own. 

Both Álvarez and Sayagues also fail to understand the lore of the series. The Xenomorphs (and various other creature) don’t follow franchise logic and because characters are able to get away with seemingly impossible tasks as a result, it results in a complete lack of tension or investment. 

It’s quite staggering how poor Alien: Romulus is. To think we got this rather than a sequel to the flawed but fascinating Alien: Covenant is an insult. Not only is this this comfortably the worst film in the franchise, it’s also Álvarez’s worst effort out of his own filmography. The initial concept should have been buried well before the film was greenlit. Sadly, the reception to Alien: Romulus has been bafflingly positive – I just hope Álvarez goes and does something else rather than further tarnish the series. In my opinon, this is comfortably the worst film of 2024 so far.