Alien: Romulus (15)

Rain and her adopted brother Andy are desperate to escape the Jackson's Star mining colony before they fall victim to the same lung disease as her parents. The pair join Rain's ex-boyfriend Tyler, his sister Kay, cousin Bjorn and their tech-savvy pilot friend Navarro on a mission to scavenge cryogenic sleep pods from a decommissioned Weyland-Yutani Corporation space station. The treasure seekers are unaware that the abandoned facility is home to the most terrifying life form in the universe.

LondonNet Film Review

Alien: Romulus (15) Film Review from LondonNet

In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus are twin brothers of noble heritage, who are abandoned as infants to die on a riverbank but eventually realise their destiny with fatal consequences for one sibling. Fede Alvarez’s reboot of the sci-fi horror franchise launched by Ridley Scott in 1979 is also a twin. A script co-written by the director, and frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues, opens shortly after the events of the first Alien and meticulously replicates props and production design elements including the creatures imagined by HR Giger…

The kitchen area of a spacecraft that flies unsuspecting characters to their grim fate here is an exact replica of the kitchen of the Nostromo from the original film, controlled by an updated MU/TH/UR computer mainframe. A Weyland-Yutani corporation-issued flashlight that appeared in Alien also illuminates Alien: Romulus and an oft-quoted line of Sigourney Weaver’s dialogue from Aliens is awkwardly recycled in similarly dramatic circumstances.

Ties that bind the series are strong but echoes of a glorious, nerve-shredding past also highlight the sleek superiority of Scott’s first journey into a hellish vision of space where everyone can hear the characters’ bloodcurdling screams. Scuttling facehuggers that hunt by heat signature and sound merit two energetically staged set pieces and Alvarez heightens suspense by toying with the effects of gravity before the obligatory bursting of a chest.

Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and adopted brother Andy (David Jonsson), a biomechanical humanoid created by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, are determined to escape the Jackson’s Star mining colony before she falls victim to the same deadly lung disease as her parents. Andy has been programmed by Rain’s late father to follow one directive: do what is best for his sister’s protection and survival. Consequently, he joins Rain on a mission to scavenge cryogenic sleep pods from a decommissioned space station called The Renaissance, which is orbiting their planet.

The mission is the brainchild of Rain’s ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux), who has assembled a ragtag team comprising his sister Kay (Isabela Merced), cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn) and their tech-savvy pilot friend Navarro (Aileen Wu). The treasure-seeking twentysomethings are blissfully unaware that the abandoned facility is home to the most terrifying life form in the universe.

Alien: Romulus is a standalone chapter that reverentially honours a legacy stretching back 45 years and confidently melds practical creature effects and digital trickery to eviscerate human flesh at regular intervals. Priscilla star Spaeny wholeheartedly embraces her role as the Ripley for a new generation, down to replicating tactics for survival. Alvarez orchestrates frequent jump scares as the script skitters over timely questions about the role of artificial intelligence in mankind’s steady self-destruction. The greatest threat to our long-term survival is not acid-blooded predators that slaughter without mercy.

– Sarah Lee