While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.

Sir Ridley Scott’s 1979 science-fiction horror Alien is an undoubted masterpiece of both genres and brought about a level of creativity and suspense that still terrifies audiences to this day. Now Hollywood’s go-to horror maestro Fede Álvarez has been given the torch and takes audiences into the abyss of fear with Alien: Romulus. Taking audiences to the far-flung galaxy of 2142 A.D. and bridging the narratives of Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, Alien: Romulus is a serious, haunting and damn right scary piece of science-fiction horror that will keep you on edge from beginning to end. And thanks to the face-huggers and chestbursters, you’ll be hugging your chair with your knees up and your hands covering your eyes out of pure fright.

As a filmmaker, Álvarez makes Alien: Romulus a fresh watch right from the start. Taking audiences to the living hell of an off-world mining colony, Álvarez focuses on young miner Rain (Cailee Spane), who is effectively in indented servitude to the mighty and sinister Weyland-Yutani Corporation and finds a promising way to escape and embarks on her chance for a shot at freedom. But the path to heaven sees her fall into a brutal and dark fissure of pure hell as she comes face to face with space’s great monster. And the results lead to a pure heart-racing watch. Álvarez has an incredible understanding of the beats of suspense, and he keeps Alien: Romulus moving at an astounding pace, continuing to throw horrific traps and sudden challenges at his audience. He also finds a fresh way into the long-storied narrative elements of the Alien franchise, such as the ‘face-huggers’ and ‘chestbursters’, and through his unique creativity, he uses them to elevate the stress and panic of his audience.

Leading at the front of Alien: Romulus is rising star Cailee Spaney, and she again challenges herself with a very fresh character as young off-world miner Rain, who finds herself in a pit of pure terror. While drawing a similar resemblance to Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, but also finding a fresh perspective into the picture, Rain is set up as Romulus’s ‘every woman’, a young woman with a pure dream, who unfortunately stumbles into a world of spacely horrors and must find a way through it all. Her performance is packed full of grit, and there’s an empathy and care present in her, which marks her out as the film’s core ‘angelic’ character. As the horrors mount up around her, the concept of pure survival closes in around her, but it’s her empathy for others that marks her out in this picture, and she’ll do whatever it takes to make sure her ‘brother’, a synthetic android Andy (David Jonsson), survives.

Delivering an utterly mesmerising performance in Alien: Romulus is David Jonsson, Rain’s synthetic android ‘brother’ Andy, and through the film’s twisting narrative, he goes on to deliver a complete 360 performance. From appearing child-like, docile and confused to being reprogrammed in such a way that he becomes a lethally efficient operative of corporate policy, there’s considerable shade and depth to Jonsson’s performance, and you completely buy into his performance as a non-human entity. Through the presence of Andy, Álvarez explores our very real fears of AI gone rogue, and he invokes a sense of puppetry and unpredictability at the behest of another entity, and this adds an extra layer of fear and betrayal into the picture that elevates the stakes.

The film’s atmosphere also lends heavily to the film, and through his experimentation and creativity, Álvarez and his team offer a new angle on which to view the Alien franchise. Where 1979’s Alien was a haunted house experience set in the bowels of a decaying, rust bucket spaceship, Alien: Romulus’s setting lends itself to like walking through a science lab gone meltdown, and you know from the outset that nothing is right inside the Romulus. There’s a sense of building dread and a situation where everything is going against our crew of scavengers, and you feel as if they have crossed a line and are rapidly being punished for it. In reflecting on Prometheus’ sense of grand hubris and how pride proceeds the fall, there’s a sense of almost ‘divine punishment’ present in Alien: Romulus, as this otherworldly beast feeds on the crew who disturbed it, and Álvarez elevates the horrors that envelope the screen.

Álvarez leans heavily into a sense of persistent and gnawing body horror with Alien: Romulus, and the detail of it all will scare the living hell out of you. As a reflection of our own fears generated from the likes of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a real focus on the horrors of the ‘parasite’, and Álvarez, along with Scott’s guidance, digs deep into ideas of birth and transformation in the most horrifying way possible. The symbolism, married with the practical effects of these ‘growing pains’, leaves the audience with a skin-crawling sense of dread and Alien: Romulus is a damn confronting watch.

The experience of Alien: Romulus keeps you on edge the whole way through, and from beginning to end, you never know when the tension will be loosened. When you think our characters may have finally found an exit to their nightmare, Álvarez turns up the volume, and the fear evolves into something worse. The film’s third act took me totally by surprise as Rain comes face-to-face with a new creature from the terror of the subconscious, and this final dash of horror will leave you in a fit of hyperventilating panic. It’s a final scene of pure bleak horror, where you won’t anticipate what’s coming, and it lands with an acidic bite that will send multiple shivers down your spine.

Alien: Romulus is one of the most terrifyingly thrilling watches you’ll see all year, and it will leave you with your pulse elevated, and searching for the light as you leave the theatre.

Image: 20th Century Studios

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Computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Foy) and her lover crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) find themselves caught in a web of spies, cyber criminals and corrupt government officials after a mysterious figure from Lisbeth’s past resurfaces.

For a character and a story like this The Girl In The Spider’s Web needed a director with a vision to craft something utterly unique and rising horror master Fede Alvarez was the man for the job. With a resume that’s piling up withe genre hits like Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe, Alvarez has now decided to change tack and has jumped into the thriller genre with a vengeance. He brings his same harsh eye for intensity that he did with his previous films to The Girl In The Spider’s Web and as a director he really leaves you on edge thanks to how he places his attention towards the unexpected.

Part of what makes Alvarez’s direction so engaging is that he focuses his attention on fully building the world that Lisbeth exists in and whether its the decadent halls of the moneyed elite or the dark and grungy basement of Lizbeth’s base of operations, as an audience member you truly feel like you’re a part of this world. The emphasis here is on the hyper real and Alvarez immerses you in this slick and stylish thriller thanks to some exotic camera work and some very shiny set dressing.

As a character Lisbeth Salander is completely fluid and can be interpreted in a multitude of different ways and now Claire Foy (The Queen) gets the chance to channel this anti-heroine in a new chapter of her story. The thing that struck me with Foy’s performance was her complete absorption into the character of Lisbeth. She’s sawny and taut and ready to pounce at any moment like some kind of wild animal. I also felt that there was a hunger about her and a curiosity that can’t be contained.

Part of what made her performance interesting was the situations that the narrative placed her in, such as when she has to confront her own maternal instincts for the first time and finds her antisocial, closed off character questioned and compromised. Foy also really gets into the action as well and her ‘win at any cost’ mentality when it comes to fighting makes for a genuinely interesting experience to see up on screen.

The supporting cast of The Girl In The Spider’s Web are also great additions to the film with Sverrir Gudnason cast as crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth’s one time lover and Sylvia Hoeks as Camilla Salander, Lisbeth’s vindictive and psychotic twin sister. I’ve also got to hand it to LaKeith Stanfield for his performance as Edwin Needham, an NSA operative who is on Lisbeth’s trail and gives her a run for her money, while Claes Bang brings a terrifying presence to Camilla Salander’s chief enforcer Jan Holtser.

If you’re looking for intensity then you’ll absolutely find it with The Girl In The Spider’s Web. From adrenaline charging car chases to heated exchanges of high ferocity gunfire this is one thriller that screams action. I have to say that my favourite part of all of it would be Lisbeth’s getaway from the police which see’s her slam her supercharged Ducati Monster onto a frozen ice lake that begins to crackle and bust up as she makes her getaway in style. It’s moments like these that take you back to Alvarez’s extraordinary vision and desire for a hyper real cinematic experience and the result is an edge of your seat watch.

If there’s a word that I’d use to describe The Girl In The Spider’s Web than gnarly would definitely be a perfect fit. This film grabs you by the throat with its intensity and its twists and turns will keep you guessing right up to the very end because Lisbeth sure knows how to take us for a ride.

Image: Sony Pictures

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