Rain and her android, Andy—who she pretends is her brother—are stuck in this dull, nasty mining colony they’d love to leave behind. They dream of heading to a planet where you can see the sun. But then the company Weyland-Yutani throws them for a loop with a bogus contract offer. So they have no choice but to go with their buddy Tyler’s wild plan: steal some cryogenic pods from one of Weyland-Yutani’s research stations out in space and start their journey to another world on their own terms.

The catch? This station, split into two parts called Romulus and Remus, is deserted and on the verge of crashing into a planet’s ring, which means time’s ticking fast. It also holds a wrecked android and clues about some really creepy creatures that totally wiped out the crew before.

With Disney now steering the Alien saga ship, Fede Álvarez dives deep into classic B-movie vibes while giving nods to past movies in the series. Still, those tributes make it feel less original at times.

In Alien: Romulus, you’ll find lots of throwbacks to earlier films. Álvarez does hit on some clever scripts ideas and staging but lands more in familiar territory like a cover band making good music but not their own hits. What’s fresh here are how the characters interact with Andy—the android played by David Jonsson—bringing something special with his first big movie role after being great in Industry. For Rain…
Andy is super important to the main character; he’s practically family. Her dad’s gone, so Andy’s like a brother. She’s got this big secret she’s keeping from him—on that new planet they’re headed to, they’d basically throw him out because he’s an android. There’s another guy in the group who’s got a serious grudge against androids, all because of some corporate mess that turned his life upside down and caused him to lose his mom.

But here’s the kicker: Andy is crucial to their mission! Without him, loads of high-security areas in this orbiting station would stay locked because only something made by Weyland-Yutani can open them up. Also, Andy gets taken over by this company’s upgrade module—it makes things wild for him, amping up his abilities but tweaking his goals at the same time.

The movie digs into themes you’ve seen before like in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant—yup, it’s all about androids again! But here it’s different because it mixes how humans feel about these androids with that whole greedy corporation vibe that’s always been part of the series. It even brings back digitalized Ian Holm as an unsettling ship android. Usually doing that might seem pretty tacky, but this time it’s clever ’cause Andy doesn’t have to pretend he’s human; he looks wrecked and acts robotic—his face being fake fits right in with everything happening around.

In Alien: Romulus, they’re not just sticking with Ridley Scott’s style; they take a turn into James Cameron territory when some serious action happens with a nest full of xenomorphs midway through the story. And that’s where things get really intense!
So, “Alien: Romulus” picks up on the genetic experiments from “Prometheus,” and its ending kind of reminds you a lot of “Alien: Resurrection” by Jeunet. The director even mentioned borrowing stuff from the game “Alien: Isolation,” like how things go down with those onboard phones.

For most of the movie, things roll along pretty smoothly. But just when you think the story’s wrapping up, there’s this big final showdown that feels stretched out. It’s longer and more involved than it needed to be, a bit extra if you ask me. That nod to Jeunet’s film could’ve been saved for another sequel without adding time to “Alien: Romulus.” Honestly, less is more here because the movie shines in its simplicity.

One tiny gripe though is all those face-offs with aliens. They spend too much time gritting their teeth and leaking goo while giving characters plenty of opportunities to escape.

All things considered, after all those heavy follow-ups since the third film—and let’s not even talk about the forgettable “Predator” crossovers—this fresh take definitely hits closer to home for long-time fans of the series. It might not feel brand new, but it’s at least like enjoying a reused idea that someone put through air conditioning! Just saying, this rejuvenation trick worked better with “Prey” for Predator fans.
This movie has a fresh take on things, and Álvarez does a great job with it. Cailee Spaeny isn’t quite the warrior like Ripley, but she definitely holds her own and leaves a lasting impression.