Forty-four years after Ridley Scott introduced audiences to Alien, Fede Álvarez brings us the ninth film in the franchise. Set between the events of the first and second Alien movies, Alien: Romulus. is a standalone film which tells the story of Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her struggle for survival alongside a small group of companions within what initially appears to be an abandoned space station. However, it is soon revealed to be a perilous environment infested with facehuggers, posing imminent threats to their existence.
The film is a homage to what Scott created but has a fresh take with Álvarez placing his stamp on the franchise. He says it was important to make a film that could unite all Alien fans.
“The whole movie is an homage to all the Alien franchise, a movie that unites them all. The franchise can be so divisive for a lot of people, and I wanted to make a movie that brings them all together and brings my love of the franchise combined in one movie.”
He says it was important to make a film that was accessible to new viewers who don’t need to have seen all eight other films to understand what is going on.
“There are plenty of references to other movies, but done in a way that, if you haven’t seen any of them, doesn’t make you feel like you’re missing out. That’s the whole point of this film. I want a 20-year-old person or teenagers to see it, have a great time and not feel like they’re missing out on the references. When there’s too much nostalgia and overbearing references, a movie’s point can be lost, and they miss younger audiences. I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen.”
Although there are some references, they aren’t major plot points, so, as Álvarez says, newcomers won’t lose out. He says he enjoyed giving small nods to the franchise’s previous directors.
“I had the chance to show it to [Ridley Scott and James Cameron], and they enjoyed the references to their films. I always imagine a director wants to make sure that their movies have been acknowledged somehow. That is why I made sure to tip my hat to all the other [Alien] movies. I have so much respect and admiration for those directors, Ridley, James Cameron, David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. They are among my favourite directors. They taught me everything I know about film.”
The film’s cast is much younger than in previous Alien films. Álvarez, whose background is in the horror genre, says his decision to have younger characters was partly influenced by horror, which is predominantly younger and served two purposes: to be original and to up the stakes.
“The idea came from thinking how can I make an Alien film that feels different from the others? Younger people are usually the standard in horror. Alien is the exception to the rule, it’s a really effective horror movie where the characters are in their 40s and 50s. I felt that [a younger cast] was a good way to tell a story that feels different. I believe a more powerful horror movie happens the younger they are, the more effective it is, somehow.”
The writer-director says Cailee Spaeny, who won great acclaim for her starring role in Priscilla, was his first and only choice to play Rain.
“I met Cailee a few years ago, and when she read for me, she blew me away. When it was time to do this movie, I had no doubt that I wanted her to play the character. I never thought of anybody else. As soon as I had a script, I sent it to her, and I was lucky enough that she said yes, she wanted to do it.”
The director says Spaeny carries much of her emotion in her eyes, which is a blessing.
“You are lucky when you get an actor like her; half of the story is written in her eyes. I don’t have to tell the whole story of her life at the beginning of the movie. You see her eyes, and you see the sadness that tells you what she has been through in the first years of her life. It is a blessing for a director when the actors’ eyes do all the work.”
David Jonsson plays Andy, Rain’s adopted brother, who is also a humanoid AI. The character goes through a transition during the film, and Álvarez says it took him a long time to find an actor who could play two sides of the same character.
“It was a long process, and it’s not easy to find someone with the level of talent and capacity to play both sides of this character, right? A lot of actors are really good at one thing but not the other, but when I found David, I felt he was perfect for it.”
He says audiences will make assumptions about Andy and that he used these assumptions to his advantage.
“These movies have great synthetic characters, and they are all different. I think the character of Andy works because the audience assumes that because he’s a synthetic, he is a bad guy. Everybody comes in with some expectations of what he may or might not do in the story. I use your prejudice to my advantage, and that keeps you watching until the end, wondering how he will turn out.”
With so much mythology across the franchise, did Álvarez ever feel burdened by it? He says it was never a burden and was excited to have a backstory to play with.
“It is so exciting to have all this mythology behind you. It makes things easier in a way. I do take it as the gospel, right? The other movies are the Bible that I have to go back to and read and make sure I’m faithful and I don’t betray anything those movies have said in the past. It’s exciting to be able to have all that and build and build from there. I’m not scared of bringing new things. I’m aware that as a film fan, as long as you respect the past and you really play the canon well, you can always add more things that will become part of the franchise.”
Words – Cara O’Doherty
ALIEN: ROMULUS is now showing in Irish cinemas