Alien: Romulus

A return to form for the Alien franchise, Romulus is good if not great

Note: This review contains some minor spoilers.

These days, the release of a sequel to a classic film – or the latest installment in a classic franchise – isn’t always a welcome development. Many remakes and sequels have proven disappointing thanks to a decline in cinematic standards and, in more than a few cases, the heavy-handed inclusion of woke themes. Sometimes fans are left wishing that things had been allowed to end on a good note. 

As such, the prospect of a new “Alien” film had many fans of the franchise, myself included, more than a little worried. But “Alien” fans can rest easy: Its seventh installment, “Alien: Romulus” (2024), does not disappoint. It is a good film, if not a great one – but it didn’t need to be to succeed.  

Set between the events of “Alien” (1979) and “Alien” (1986), “Romulus” features Cailee Spaeny of “Civil War” (2024) fame as Rain, a young woman who learns that her mining contract on Jackson’s Star has been extended by many years. Unhappy with her lot, she reluctantly joins some friends on a mission to a nearby space station, which contains cryo-chambers the group intends to use to escape the galaxy. 

In an unpredictable turn of events, the space station is not, in fact, abandoned. Things spiral out of control from there, and what follows is an incredibly claustrophobic, suspenseful, and of course goopy fight for survival. In other words, it is an “Alien” film.

In that sense, it is a return to form. I quite liked the franchise’s previous two installments, “Prometheus” and “Covenant”, but they diverged considerably from the earlier films. Neither took place primarily on a spaceship or space station. Some felt that they were too ponderous – that their emphasis on philosophy and lore was out of place in the franchise. 

“Romulus” is proof that those complaints have been heard. Fede Álvarez did his homework. Make no mistake, this is a film for “Alien” fans. Benjamin Wallfisch’s excellent score displays a clear and obvious influence from the composers who helped make the earlier films so memorable. Dialogue callbacks abound. And at least one classic character from the earlier films makes an appearance. The film just feels like the originals. 

However, those longing for something a little more original might find this installment lacking. Short of one particularly diabolical development toward the end of the film – which, for the record, is wildly entertaining – it doesn’t cover much new ground. But as previously mentioned, “Prometheus” (2012) and “Covenant” (2017) each offered an original take on the "Alien” theme, and greatly expanded on the lore, yet they received substantial criticism. It seems you really can’t please everyone. 

The characters are a weak point, one of a few reasons why “Romulus” is good but not great. Neither the film’s acting nor writing makes any of them stand out. Compare this to the original films, which featured Sigourney Weaver’s masterful performance as the permanently embattled Ripley. Spaeny is a serviceable actress, but some shoes simply cannot be filled. Even the previous two installments can boast of at least one memorable performance: Michael Fassbender as the android David. “Romulus” has nothing to boast of in this regard. The best you can say is that the cast gets the job done. 

Thankfully, the film isn’t overtly political. By that, I mean there are no trans characters, no lines about crushing the patriarchy, no condemnation of “white privilege,” etc. With that said, there was one curious racial angle. The film’s token android, Andy (David Jonsson), also happens to be its only black character. We learn early on that Andy is Rain’s “brother,” having been found by her father and welcomed into the family when she was young. 

The warm feelings Rain feels toward her mechanical brother are not shared by the other humans on Jackson’s Star. In one of the film’s first scenes, a group of workers surround and beat Andy, forcing Rain to intervene. The relationship between Andy and Rain’s friends isn’t much of an improvement. Most are, at best, indifferent to Andy, viewing him as an oddity whose help they require for their mission. 

But Bjorn (Spike Fearn) is notably less tolerant. In an English accent, the white, blue-eyed actor – the only white male in the group, mind you – repeatedly bullies Andy, reminding him that he is, at the end of the day, not one of them. “No fake people allowed,” Bjorn cruelly says to the black android at one point, to which a sad-looking Andy replies, “I prefer the term artificial person myself.” After this scene I thought to myself, Did he just basically call him the n word?

Even Rain reveals at one point that she values her own interests more than Andy. “He’s not, you know, real,” Rain tells one of her friends, who responds understandingly, “You’re not going to throw your whole life away for him.” This dynamic changes over the course of the film, and although the change is only briefly acknowledged, it is emphatic and intentional. The writers make it clear that Rain has had a change of heart.

As I watched “Romulus,” I couldn’t help but wonder if I was overthinking things. Those looking for symbolism will often find it, even where it doesn’t exist. But look at it this way. If I told you that in 2024, a major film would feature just one black character, who is repeatedly othered by the other characters, whose primary adversary is the only white guy in the crew, and that this black character’s identity, though not explicitly racial, was an obstacle for his acceptance…would you think it a stretch for me to propose that this was intended as subtle commentary on black lived experience? To me, this is a clear reference to slavery and the attempts to integrate blacks into American society. 

In my defense, I was not the only one who noticed. A reporter at the Verge, Charles Pulliam-Moore, reached a similar conclusion. In a review titled “Alien: Romulus is a solid franchise tribute plagued by weird optics,” Pulliam-Moore notes that “the abuse Romulus heaps on its sole Black character in service of iffy worldbuilding and plot advancement is its most glaring weakness.” So while he noted the racial dynamic, as a black guy, he did not welcome it. 

I didn’t welcome it either, albeit for different reasons. Most of the already limited amount of time “Romulus” devotes to character development consists of the aforementioned dynamic. By attempting to humanize the one non-human main character in the movie, it misses the opportunity to humanize, you know, the actual human ones. Why should we care if and when they die? We know so little about them. But we know that the black android isn’t considered a real person. (And as an android, he simply isn’t.) 

Fortunately, “Alien: Romulus” makes up for this shortcoming in most other ways. The action sequences are viscerally thrilling, the set design is grand, the music is wonderfully atmospheric, and the cinematography – especially during the low-gravity scenes – is engrossing. There many memorable moments. It will not be remembered as one of the best “Alien” films, but it is a heartening sign that the franchise can still deliver.