For reasons I still don’t fully understand, I skipped Alien: Romulus during its theatrical run. Maybe it was the mixed early reactions from friends. Maybe it was franchise fatigue. Maybe I was just dumb. But after finally watching it at home, all I can say is: this movie rules—and I should’ve given it my money on day one.
Directed by Fede Álvarez (of Don’t Breathe fame), Romulus isn’t a reboot or a prequel—it’s a brutal, beautifully made midquel. Set between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), it smartly positions itself in the franchise timeline without over-explaining or trying to rewrite canon. It just drops us into a terrifying new scenario, gives us a scrappy cast of characters, and unleashes hell.
The setup is simple: six young space colonists, scavenging a derelict station, run into—you guessed it—facehuggers, xenomorphs, and everything in between. But what sets this apart from other Alien entries is the execution. Álvarez leans hard into tension, isolation, and claustrophobia. This movie feels scary again. And the biggest surprise? The facehuggers are terrifying. Not just gross, not just an obligatory scare—they’re fast, freaky, and genuinely threatening, which hasn’t been the case in a while.
Cailee Spaeny anchors the film as Rain, and she’s fantastic. You believe her fear, you believe her survival instinct, and she sells every moment. The rest of the cast—David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced—round out the group well, even if a few of them are pretty obvious Alien-bait from the start. But that’s the genre—we know some of these kids are just here to scream and die.
Visually, Romulus is stunning. Cinematographer Galo Olivares (who worked on Roma and Monsterland) makes every corridor, vent shaft, and blood-stained medbay feel oppressively lived-in. The creature work is a mix of practical and digital, and for once, the blend actually works. The xenomorph feels real again—menacing, unpredictable, and fast. There’s one kill (you’ll know it when you see it) that’s straight-up nightmare fuel.
And yes, this is a spoiler review, so let’s talk about the ending: Rain’s final stand is pure Aliens energy. It doesn’t copy Ripley, but it channels that same desperation, that same defiance in the face of death. The film also throws in a subtle tease about Weyland-Yutani and experimentation, which could play into the already-confirmed sequel. It’s not heavy-handed, but it’s enough to keep franchise fans buzzing.
Here’s the thing: Alien: Romulus doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. It respects what worked before—atmosphere, tension, gruesome body horror—and builds a solid story around it. It’s tight, it’s focused, and it doesn’t feel like homework. After the overcooked lore dumps of Covenant and the confusing mess of Prometheus, this feels like a course correction.
If Aliens was a war movie and Alien was a haunted house film, Romulus is somewhere in between—leaner, meaner, and way more fun than I expected.
Final verdict: This is the best Alien movie we’ve had in decades. And yes, I absolutely should’ve seen it in theaters.
Listen to my full review here.
Hollywood After Dark 