Alien: Romulus (2024)

The Alien franchise has had a complicated few decades. Ridley Scott's 1979 original remains one of the most influential horror-science fiction films ever made, and James Cameron's 1986 sequel Aliens is frequently cited as one of those rare cases where a follow-up matched, or possibly surpassed, its predecessor. What came after is, to put it charitably, a more mixed bag: a string of sequels, spin-offs and prequels that ranged from the divisive to the outright dismal. By the time Alien: Romulus arrived in cinemas in 2024, the series had been through the wringer enough times that audiences were understandably cautious. The pitch for this entry was a back-to-basics approach: a group of young colonists, a derelict space station, and the franchise's signature creature doing what it does best. Simple enough on paper.

Behind the camera, the studio brought in Fede Álvarez, the Uruguayan director who made his name with the 2013 Evil Dead remake before following it up with the lean, efficient Don't Breathe (2016). He is a director with a clear feel for contained, pressure-cooker horror, which made him a logical choice for a property that lives or dies on atmosphere and dread. The film was produced under the Scott Free Productions banner alongside the long-running Brandywine Productions (the production company behind much of the original series) and distributed by 20th Century Studios, running at just under two hours. In front of the camera, the cast is notably young, led by Cailee Spaeny, who had already been turning heads in a range of quite different projects before this. She is joined by David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced and Spike Fearn, a collective whose relative unfamiliarity works in the film's favour, at least in theory: there are no established stars to soften the sense of danger, which is exactly the kind of casting logic that served the original films so well.

For context on what Álvarez was walking into, it is worth remembering that franchise horror with serious legacy baggage is a genuinely tricky proposition. Getting the look and feel right is the easier half of the job; finding something new to say within a well-worn mythology is considerably harder. Horror fans, in particular, tend to have long memories and strong opinions (as anyone who has spent five minutes reading about You Won't Be Alone, another horror film reviewed on this site, will appreciate, the genre rewards patience and punishes formula). And science fiction fans, meanwhile, have no shortage of alternatives to turn to when a franchise entry disappoints, as the history of the site's coverage of films like Fire in the Sky and Futureworld shows: the genre has always had room for smaller, stranger ideas alongside the big-budget spectacle. Whether Alien: Romulus finds its own footing within that tradition, or simply recycles what came before, is precisely what is at stake.

Ruined by the ending While Alien: Romulus attempts to breathe new life into the franchise, it leans too heavily on familiar territory, echoing Aliens in both structure and tone. The film's atmosphere and tension are commendable, capturing the claustrophobic dread that fans appreciate. However, the narrative feels overly derivative, lacking the innovation needed to set it apart.​ The introduction of the xenomorph-human hybrid in the final act is particularly contentious. This plot development seems unnecessary and detracts from the established lore. While the film delivers on visual and suspenseful fronts, it struggles with originality and character depth. ​ In summary, Alien: Romulus offers moments of genuine suspense and visual appeal but ultimately falls short due to its reliance on past formulas and questionable narrative choices.​

I do think there is something genuinely frustrating about a film that gets so much of the groundwork right and then stumbles at the finish line. The atmosphere is clearly the work of a director who knows how to use a space, and for stretches this really does recapture that tight-chested, nowhere-to-run feeling that made the original so effective. But a good first two acts cannot carry a film through a third act that feels like it belongs to a different, lesser script entirely. For me, the xenomorph-human hybrid development is the kind of choice that suggests a lack of confidence in the material, a reaching for novelty that ends up undermining exactly the tension that had been built so carefully. If you are after horror that commits more fully to its own logic, it might be worth a look at The Serpent and the Rainbow, another horror film I have covered here, which shows what happens when a genre film trusts its premise all the way through. Alien: Romulus is polished but unremarkable, and the waste of a solid setup.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2024  | Watched: 2025-04-10

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Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for Alien: Romulus (2024) on YouTube

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