It’s been seven years since Alien: Covenant hit theaters, and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t exactly a commercial success. Nevertheless, the Alien franchise is a machine at this point, as it markets and promotes itself thanks to its core fanbase. In addition, it serves as a playground for various filmmakers to take the series in a distinct direction. Even when Ridley Scott returned to the series with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, those films did not feel like carbon copies of the original. So how does Alien: Romulus continue the series trend of bringing in talented directors? Here’s how: grab Fede Alvarez, the guy who rejuvenated the Evil Dead series with 2013’s Evil Dead, and let him do whatever he wants. Luckily for everyone, “whatever he wants” has resulted in one of the best installments of the franchise.

Alien: Romulus follows Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her brother Andy (David Jonsson). On a colony full of sickness, death, and poverty, Rain wants to get to Yagar VIII, a colony where you can see the sun. She randomly gets a call from some of her buddies Tyler, Kay, Bjorn, and Navarro. They’ve stumbled upon a decommissioned ship floating above their mining colony. and want to steal the cryo-sleep machine so they can get to Yagar VIII. They get to ship and discover a much more dark and sinister place than they could have ever imagined on the colony. With the ship full of facehuggers, the crew of young blue-collar workers must now find a way to get off of Romulus in one piece. And if the earlier movies were an indication, the chances of everyone surviving are near zero.

The slow pace is a characteristic of all Alien films, and Romulus only continues the trend. Even when you know what’s coming, the tension comes from the journey to those moments. Given that Alvarez’s earlier films were Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead, this should come as no surprise. Still, he knows how to grab an audience’s attention and build on that. He knows how to build anxiety in the viewer and make you ponder or wonder when “it” will happen.

Director of Photography Galo Olivares deserves a lot of love as well, as the deliberate camera movements made it that much more terrifying. There are some incredible shots in this film, and some are reminiscent of Hitchcock films like Vertigo. It’s fun to watch cinematographers and directors put their own style and twist on things, and being able to see their influences. Alvarez and Olivares give us very fear-inducing shots, but they aren’t there for no reason.

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The face-huggers and Xenomorphs in this film are what Giger dreamed of. His creatures will always be legendary, and it’s great to see the legacy continue. The colony that was introduced in Aliens, and the movement of these beasts is something he could only dream of. It’s fantastic to see his vision in several ways. H.R. Giger created the perfect being, and the engineers, and he is the reason we fear Alien. He deserves all the praise because all these years later, his designs are still terrifying audiences about what could be in space. Much like HG Wells and his designs, Giger has a legacy that many could only dream of.

Of course, no Alien film is complete without a remarkable ensemble, and Romulus once again follows suit. Spaeny and Jonsson showcased their talents in shows like Devs and Industry respectively, and they show even more insane skills in Alien: Romulus. Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Aileen Wu, and Spike Fearn put on great performances as well. The chemistry of this cast was really good, and certain aspects of how they interacted made the film more interesting. As someone who believes that Gen V and the recent Scream movies have the best young ensembles in recent memory, I am more than happy to include Romulus in that conversation.

The Alien franchise has a legacy of very strong female characters, whether it’s an old staple like Ripley or a newer face like Daniels in Covenant. Romulus continues that with Rain. She’s a timid character thrown into the fray and has to be the strong character for everybody essentially. On top of that, she is more shy and compassionate than any of the previous Alien leads. When she says she cares about others, you truly believe her. To some degree, that comes from Spaeny’s youthfulness, a trait that isn’t common among actors like Sigourney Weaver or Katherine Waterston. But taking the physicality out of the equation, it’s still evident that Rain is characterized to be more kind than Ripley or Daniels.

Saying that an Alien film is suspenseful and thrilling is a broken record at this point. So props to Alvarez for making that broken record as fresh and watchable as possible. Alien: Romulus continues his run of amazing horror films, and solidifies him as someone who you can trust with any Alien movies going forward. If Ridley Scott decides to never make one of these again, he can rest assured that people as capable as Alvarez are there to hold the fort.

Rating: 10/10

Alien: Romulus is in theaters 8/16/24!