What’s it about?

A group of young colonists plan a little heist that might be their ticket to a better life, not knowing that the alien from the movie Alien is in the mix and almost definitely going to ruin their day.

What’d we think?

If Ridley Scott’s Alien was horror by way of sci-fi, and James Cameron’s Aliens was horror by way of action, Alien: Romulus is horror by way of everything that came before it. It’s a heap of fun, and probably the only other movie in the franchise that I’d say is worth watching. It manages to incorporate the important elements of the lore-that-nobody-wanted from Prometheus, while grounding the audience in the same oppressive setting that made the franchise relatable in the most terrifying way.

The first act moves at a clip, elegantly establishing the crumminess of daily life in the grimy mining colony where we meet our central characters and immediately giving the audience insight into why they’d jump at the chance to escape. This comes in the form of a seemingly abandoned research station that’s fallen into their orbit, with plenty of resources on board to facilitate their escape to greener pastures. A big part of the movie’s strength is the dramatic irony that arises from the fact that we’re watching an Alien film. We know that a xenomorph is rearing its head at some point, and the first time we see some sleeping facehuggers we know what’s in store for our leads, but it all work in service to the film.

There’s some exceptional hard sci-fi in here, and some genuinely effective horror. I say all of this as a guy who genuinely doesn’t enjoy scary movies in general – after all, what kind of sicko seeks out the feeling of being terrified? Romulus is a genuinely solid sci-fi movie whose horror elements never feel cheap or forced, and manages to tip a hat to its predecessors without feeling overwrought (with one notable exception that’s so fun that I’ll let it slide).