The Alien franchise is a strange creature, almost as strange as the alien xenomorph at the centre of it. But, director Fede Alvarez is no stranger to a series with lasting appeal. His 2013 debut Evil Dead brought back the horror franchise with grit and gore.
Here, he sets his film between the original Alien and its sequel Aliens. We meet Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny), an orphan living on an outpost planet run by Weyland-Yutani, a company working on mining with little regard for human life. She lives with a re-programmed Android called Andy (David Jonsson) who acts as a dad-joke spewing adopted brother. One day her ex-boyfriend and his crew offer Rain the chance to leave the colony and live somewhere else. The catch? To do so they must infiltrate a rundown space station and steal some equipment. But the ship isn't that abandoned.
Alvarez is clearly a fan of the franchise, he and co-writer Rodo Sayagues know what people love about the series, especially the first two films. We see the utterly callous nature of the Weyland-Yutani company, playing up its indifference to human suffering in the name of a quick buck. But they also know that the series is about two things – the human fear of their own body, and our fear that we will be replaced.
Spaeny is a very good lead as Rain, she doesn't try to do anything that Sigourney Weaver, Noomi Rapace or Katharine Waterstone did in their roles. Instead she imbues Rain with a sense of melancholy, a sadness to her that she tries to hide from her android “sibling”. As good as Spaeny is, and at this point we should expect nothing less, the film really belongs to Jonsson. As android Andy he is able to modulate a nervous, almost autistic robot before a plot-centric reprogramming turns him into a much calmer, cooler customer altogether. His performance is another fantastic android in the Alien canon and potentially the character Alvarez is most interested in.
The supporting players are all very good, and provide ample gore when the face-huggers and xenomorphs come romping through. Alvarez hits the right balance between the claustrophobia of Alien and the gun-toting action of Aliens. He avoids too much fan-service, though one line drops feels unearned and a mid-film character introduction falls way past uncanny into actually quite bad.
Even so, this is a full throated, blood soaked horror film that delights in grossing out its audience with goo and gore thrown around. Thankfully Disney opted to give this a cinema release, as this is one that deserves to be seen with people on a packed Friday night. By the time the third act comes Alvarez is ready to show monstrosity and horror that will charm the fans and creep out the newbies. It's a triumphant return to its roots, but also forges a path where the series can grow and prosper. In space no one can hear you scream, come opening night, everyone will hear you though.
Alien: Romulus is in cinemas from 16th August
