“Alien: Romulus” brings old thrills and fresh horrors
Written by Nevin Allen. Photo by Abigail Wornock.
Alien: Romulus is the latest installment in the Alien film franchise, screened on Oct. 27 at the 2024 SCAD Savannah Film Festival as part of its “Late Night” programming. It is the franchise’s first installment to be directed by Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) and stars 2024 Rising Star Award recipient Isabela Merced as Kay, 2023 Breakthrough Award recipient Cailee Spaeny as Rain, and David Jonsson as Andy. The film chronicles the efforts of a misfit crew as they attempt to escape an oppressive mining planet by stealing equipment that can transport them to greener pastures. In true Alien tradition, everything goes wrong.
The legendary Alien franchise is full of sci-fi epics that simultaneously leverage the unfathomable size of space and the oppressive claustrophobia of structures, both made and found for a brand of horror that feels downright Alien. Each entry uses signature creatures to take bites out of different thematic pies, with everything from extermination to resurrection getting its turn in the spotlight. An excited fan in line for the screening described the Alien franchise’s mainstays as “isolation, grotesqueness and a secret third thing,” all three of which the new release delivers on in the third act alone. Romulus naturally features the titular Alien but also explores the horror of persistence and of the grotesque changes sometimes necessary for survival— fitting themes for a franchise now spanning seven feature installments and 45 years.
Despite its impressive ancestry, Romulus is remarkably accessible for new Alien fans, featuring plenty of cameos and references to prior films without leaning on them for its crucial beats. The film has no shortage of Xenomorphs, Facehuggers, and Prometheus-esque proto-creatures. Still, it offers new horrors as well, imagined with special care for this entry’s particular place in both contemporary culture and the Alien universe. The perseverance of family is woven throughout in ways that both warm the heart and chill the soul, reflecting a poignant postmodern angst in an entry that otherwise returns to the series’ roots of shoot-em-up thriller madness.
After the screening, supporting star Isabela Merced gave a Q&A in which she spoke about her experience entering classic franchises so early in her career: Dora, Alien, The Last of Us and Superman among them. There was little the actress could say about her upcoming projects, but she carried an air of warmth and gratitude that kept the crowd awake and clapping, even after midnight. Merced ended with an inspirational message for aspiring creatives: dream crazy dreams, and—like the survivors in Alien: Romulus—move in silence if you have to.
