'Alien: Romulus' can be tough to follow

Three and a Half out of Five Stars

By Abby Cowels
Staff Writer

“Alien: Romulus,” directed by Fede Alvarez, is a 2024 cosmic sci-fi horror film set in a timeline between the first and second “Alien” movies.

Receiving positive reviews and grossing over $200 million worldwide, “Romulus” is the ninth installment in the Alien franchise. Catch it at NCG, Celebration Cinema and other local movie theaters.

Enslaved on the mining planet, five motivated individuals and an Android decide that their only chances of escaping are by breaking into an abandoned space station.

The Renaissance is a scientific research facility that has entered the planets’ orbit. It contains Cryosleep chambers that could help them to reach their planet of refuge, nine years away.

After boarding, the group haphazardly unleashes a swarm of Facehuggers and the ship goes into a lockdown, trapping the colonists in the station with a hive of Xenomorph and something much more terrifying.

I anticipated more for a film from Fede Álvarez. He directed and wrote characters for the remake of “Evil Dead” released in 2013, which I thought was a satisfying remake. He had brought a new element of horror to the campy ‘80s film, giving it an entirely new personality from the original.  

“Alien” from 1979 is one of the most iconic horror films in history, quickly followed by “Aliens” and “Alien 3.” Since then, the insistent continuity of the franchise forced it into a story around lore and origin, rather than the fear of the unknown.

To sum it up, the creators made sure to carefully place their easter eggs, yet failed to grasp the meaning or metaphor of those objects.

With a score of 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it appears that audiences loved it. Objectively, it is a good story. I found it far too derivative. There are some really creative ideas in this film that I wish were elaborated on more, but it was pulled back by the constant references to the original films.