This summer’s run of movies has been one movie after another. Yet, another controversial film has debuted recently, “Alien Romulus.” This movie hails from the “Alien” franchise, movies, comics, and games, all giving scares for 45 years now with their uncanny and bug-like monster, the Xenomorph. That said, these movies have a large following and a massive fan base, all with ravenous fans who care a lot about what happens and the story each movie tells. So out of the three categories, story, acting, and entertainment value, how many points out of 30 can Alien Romulus hunt down? 

“Alien: Romulus”, and almost all “Alien” products, aren’t quite known for their impeccable story and character writing, these factors more so being a vessel for the scares to happen. That said I can say, with confidence,  the characters and story of this movie can stand on their own and give so much ground for the movie to be even scarier. This movie follows two characters, Rain, played by Cailee Spaeny, our human protagonist, and Andy, played by David Jonsson, the robotic brother to Rain. These two are looking to escape the mining colony they’ve been assigned to but are rejected exit, so they join up with another group to scavenge a deactivated space station for cryogenic pods so they can go to another planet. This leads to them getting trapped on the ship with the Xenomorphs, which systematically track down the main cast, while Andy was being controlled by another robot named Rook. Rook was played by Daniel Betts, with vocal and facial inspirations by Ian Holm. This leads to them being dragged around looking for a serum, which supposedly could make humans unstoppable, as they “can no longer wait for evolution” according to Rook. Eventually, Andy, Rain, and another crew member Kay, played by Isabela Merced, can escape onto their ship with the cryogenic pods. That said, after injecting a serum, Kay, who was pregnant, gives birth to a human xenomorph hybrid called The Offspring. The Offspring kills Kay and Andy as Rain finishes it off, barely surviving to an unfinished ending, which never confirms if she made it to her destination or if The Offspring really died. This story is perfect for what it is and makes the movie much scarier as you get attached to the characters and their motivations. Overall, I’d give this movie a solid 9/10 in story, as it sets things up perfectly for sequels, serves its purpose and more.

As for the entertainment factor, it scales a little differently here than a comedy or action movie, being dependent on the tension, scares, and designs rather than jokes or action. In terms of the tension, it’s perfect in every way. This movie is mostly built up, constantly getting you ready to see another horrifying display of helplessness from the characters, who, unlike most horror movies, aren’t simply just dumb, but they’re out-matched by the threat they’re facing. Speaking of, the Xenomorph itself is a terrifying prospect, being portrayed as “the perfect organism,” and it lives up to that title, being the same carapace-covered acidic-blood-having hunter we’ve seen since the 80s, yet in an updated and even scarier version of the one we’ve always seen. This gives way to some amazing practical effects and CGI, creating that same feel the 80s gave us but even better, which makes it scarier than any “Alien” film we’ve ever seen. It also delivers on the scares at the end with The Offspring, being an uncanny, more human-like iteration of the Xenomorph that is disturbing and horrifying to look at as the survivors are powerless to stop its pursuit until they finally manage to finish it off. So, how scary and fun was this movie? I firmly believe this movie earns a 10/10 in terms of entertainment value, being nothing less than brilliantly terrifying.

The acting was also really well done, being incredibly impressive, especially for a horror movie. Horror movies are known for having dumb characters, but that’s not the case in this movie, and the actors make sure it’s portrayed perfectly. Cailee Spaeny as Rain is a phenomenal actress who kills. The emotional and slightly hysterical nature of the character shows true showmanship. David Jonsson, just the same, was such an amazing actor, playing the cold yet still somewhat sentient synthetic perfectly. He really made me feel bad for him early on and at the end while making him cold and emotional through the middle, hopefully earning nothing but praise and prestige. However, I also have to give credit to the puppeteer Aileen Wu, giving believable and masterful movements that made the puppets look natural and even scarier, as well as doing phenomenal work on the practical effects, making everything look so real and unsettling. Overall, with all these factors working in congruence with the story and entertainment value, I have to give it a 10/10, being exceptional compared to all movies, disregarding horror as a genre.

So overall, “Alien: Romulus” was amazing, and definitely a return to form or better the once-fading franchise. For the above reasons, I firmly believe “Alien: Romulus” earns a solid 29/30, which is a near-perfect score. I believe that this is one of the best horror movies to come out recently and it truly excels, being my favorite movie this summer season.