“Alien: Romulus” brings sci-fi horror back to the silver screen

Light spoilers ahead for the film and “Alien” lore.

I remember the first time I watched 1979’s “Alien.” Microwave popcorn, an LED lamp turned on to a dim red (you know, for ambience) and an old, hand-me-down Sony TV. It led me to my favorite sci-fi horror movie series, video game, “Alien: Isolation” and one of my favorite directors of all time. Over the years, Ridley Scott has worked on a number of sequels, prequels and in between, but none of them ever lived up to the first, terrifying tale of Ellen Ripley, played by the talented Sigourney Weaver, the sole survivor of the Nostromo. Even directors James Cameron and Jean-Pierre Jeunet could not resist directing a sequel. When I saw the preview for a new “Alien” film that was being released in August 2024, “Alien: Romulus,” I knew I would have to go see it.

While Scott has a producer role, “Alien: Romulus” has a new face to add to the franchise. Directed by Uruguayan Director Fede Álvarez, the film follows a small band of workers on a mining colony, in space, looking for an escape from their ever-growing debt. When they find out there is an abandoned company ship nearby, the crew jump on the opportunity to steal crucial equipment from it in order to fly to a more, “hospitable” planet. What lurks inside this abandoned ship is clear to those familiar with these films.

The original film captivated me with how well tension occurred in scenes between the Xenomorph and its victims. I am an avid horror movie fan, and it takes a lot to keep me on the edge of my seat; most horror movies released recently usually follow the same formula (Can we please stop naming every horror/thriller film with one, vague word — starting with “The?” Seriously, scroll through any streaming service and count the number). One gets used to it after so many trips to the silver screen. The idea that these people are stranded in space, with no help for years and years of travel, are dealing with a perfectly crafted apex predator aboard their ship with a thirst for blood is uniquely terrifying. Combined with an underdog against seemingly impossible odds, and that’s the premise of “Alien.” In “Alien: Romulus,” the story is packed with new content, new lore and is consistent with the ease in delivering horror. Lead actress Cailee Spaeny plays Rain, a girl seeking to escape to a better life with her “artificial person,” brother Andy, played by David Johnson. After things go amiss and the Xenomorphs run rampant, the film follows a tale of survival, tragedy and a disturbing twist of events.

Despite the film’s successes, I walked away with questions. In previous films, Xenomorphs were engineered to be the perfect predator, so much that one could not simply shoot or incapacitate them. In fact, all of the films usually end with blowing them to bits, and sometimes they still come back. They are sort of the cockroaches of space. “Alien: Romulus” seems to forget this animalistic resilience, and, while specialized pulse rifles being effective against them is not foreign to the franchise, having a character just shoot them in the head dampens its scare factor. Though, the film makes up for this by emphasizing the Xenomorphs’ intelligence, highlighting its strategies to hunt and its ability to recognize a potential threat in its appearances on screen. All things considered, I put it second to the original film that started it all.