Alien Romulus directed by Fede Alvarez is the newest movie added to the Alien franchise. The story follows a group of space colonizers who plan to break into the seemly abandoned Romulus space station to search for cryostasis chambers. The chambers are vital to the group’s goal of escaping to the planet Yvaga.

The film has an intimate cast. The cast size does elevate the experience, but the runtime can appear deceiving how often and fast characters are killed off. Rain (Cailee Spaney) and Andy (David Jonsson) are the only characters who experience significant character development and a developed relationship. The film does take the time to introduce the characters and the relationship they have with one another, though the deaths are not emotional because the audience did not have time to build an emotional connection with these characters.

The themes of corporate capitalism are textual, the criticism of the topic is portrayed the most by David Jonsson’s character. Andy as a synthetic human who is easy to sympathize with, especially with the bond he has with Rain. The first and last scenes end with the two of them. The familiar relationship between them does not end with Rain calling Andy her brother; it expands to both their actions throughout the movie. The loyalty they have to one another further establishes how they love and care for each other deeply. Jonsson has kind eyes making tough experiences for his character all the more cruel.

Both practical effects and CGI are present. The face huggers and xenomorph are practical effects and the CGI use is kept to the minimum. This approach allowed the monsters to be increasingly unsettling as they are truly there on the set. The best scene would have to be the chest burster. The audience and the characters both know something is wrong, but only the audience knows what that is. It adds to the gruesomeness of the scene since it is buildup of ten minutes of dread. The film would have benefited overall if it leaned more to its splatter side.

As a casual sci-fi horror film, Alien Romulus does its job well. For hardcore Alien fans, Alien Romulus is likely not to be popular with that group. The intended audience is for more casual enjoyers of the franchise or a broader audience. It is a simple film which is okay because it does not try to convince the audience it is any more than that.

The final rating I give for Alien Romulus is 3.6 shields out of five.