Alien redo, done in the mixed style of Fede Alvarez's "Don't Breathe," and minor aesthetic elements of the Alien: Isolation (2014) video game. I liked the constant feeling of dread and the gritty, dirty look of the film, but I didn’t care much for the rogue crew or the main character’s backstory. Despite all the world-building drama, viewers are mainly here for the scares, gore, and body count, and "Romulus" mostly delivers. The casting feels a bit like a fan film, but Cailee Spaeny (as Rain Carradine), Archie Renaux (as Tyler), and David Jonsson (as Rain's "brother") stand out. The story bridges the gap between the destruction of the "Nostromo" in "Alien" (1979) and the events before "Aliens" (1986). There are only a few issues, but they stand out when looking at the bigger Alien universe. It also feels like producer Ridley Scott stepped in toward the end to leave his mark. The brief zero-gravity scene is well done, and it's surprising it hasn’t been used like this in an "Alien" movie before. Overall, in Alvarez's filmography, this sits between "Don't Breathe" (2016) and "Evil Dead" (2013). In my Alien franchise list, it ranks just slightly behind 3rd placed (with Alien/Aliens as interchangeable 1 and 2) "Prometheus" (2012), which had more time to develop its lore, although much of that was undone in "Alien: Covenant" (2017). As a standalone film, it works and is well-directed, but in the context of the series, it's entertaining. Without a proper sequel, though, it might end up feeling a bit pointless.
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