By: Ica Hontiveros-Cheng
Aliens (1986) has a special place in my Xenomorph vacant heart. Being born in the same year, I saw the cult classic as a young kid, it was one of those films which I saw with my dad. I know that I talk about this a lot but this is who I am, a sentimental film buff, who has a great love for her late father. And I do feel closest to my dad, when I geek out about movies. So yeah I may be biased when it comes to the Alien movies, but I was genuinely excited about Romulus since I’m also a fan of director Fede Alvarez.
Alvarez’s ‘Don’t Breathe’ left such a good impression on me, and the fact that they decided not to use green screens and CGI, and do practical effects was an additional incentive.
Meet Rain and Andy
I like how Fede Alvarez writes his leads, just like Rocky in ‘Don’t Breathe’ Rain’s motivation (played by the talented Cailee Spaeny) is to work for a better life for her and her brother Andy (David Johnsson), so they can travel to another planet with better living conditions-like having a sun, for one. Unfortunately, “the company” is not so keen on letting them go. The whole exchange, reminded me of our fellow Filipinos, working on leaving for better lives and greener pastures in other countries.
I was immediately drawn to how protective Rain was over Andy. As the eldest daughter, I could see myself in her, in wanting to protect her younger sibling and give them a better life. Turns out though that Andy is not actually a living person, but a synthetic, an artificial person, (think Star War’s R2-D2, but a human) and I was really impressed with the performance that David Johnson did. My heart immediately went out to these two siblings.
Welcome to the Romulus
With the promise of a new life, Rain makes a gamble, as she and Andy join her friends as they go on board a decommissioned space station to steal cryo pods, which they will need in the space travel to “greener pastures”. But of course, all is not what it seems on board the Romulus.
Another element about the film which I loved was the dark and gritty production design, which was reminiscent of early 80s science fiction. The clunky, box typed monitors, with huge buttons in red, and green, the abandoned and dilapidated space station, the glowing warning lights, all these elements contributed to an effective sci-fi horror atmosphere, bringing Alien Romulus back to its horror roots.
In Space No One Can Hear You Scream But They Can Hear You in a Cinema
Fans of the franchise know how face huggers, chest busters, and Xenomorphs work, well if you think you’ve seen everything when it comes to Xenomorphs, you’d better strap in for a jaw-dropping, nightmare inducing final act. I’m still trying to shake off the horrifying images from my mind. So, its best to see this return to form film with as many friends as you can, so you can all scream, gag, and be traumatized together. And so you will have the emotional support needed after seeing the film, because you will definitely want to decompartmentalize and talk about it. You know, work on your trauma.
With horror maven Fede Alvarez at the helm, Alien Romulus goes back to the basics of horror, weaving a nail-biting, trauma-inducing, and nightmare-filled experience you wouldn’t want to miss.