Starring: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced and Aileen Wu
Distributor: Disney
Runtime: 119 mins. Reviewed in Aug 2024
Reviewer: Peter W Sheehan
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While exploring a derelict space station, a group of space colonisers comes face to face with a terrifying creature that threatens human existence.
This American science fiction horror movie is the seventh instalment in the 40-year-old ‘Alien’ franchise. Events take place between those depicted in Alien (1979), and those in Aliens (1986), seven years later.
Director Alvarez co-wrote the film with Rodo Sayagues, and the events covered in the film are noticeably distinct from those in the previous films of the Alien franchise. A stand-alone addition to the Alien franchise, it focuses on a new cast of characters, who live on a distant planet.
Ridley Scott was the director of the 1979 movie that began the series; and James Cameron directed the 1986 Aliens. Significantly, Alvarez has used the special effects crew from Aliens to work on this film’s special effects. This movie is as violent as previous Alien movies, and its special effects evoke the emotional feel of the original 1979 movie. The movie has not been directed for the squeamish at all, and it depends heavily on slasher-type scenarios.
The film’s plot shows a group of young colonisers, who move into space to explore an abandoned space station, and they unwittingly become the prey of a savage xenomorph monster. This group are largely ignorant of the realities of space, and the terrors that dark space can deliver, and the film marks a significant return to the horror of the original film, with AI thrown in to heighten tension.
Alvarez is a new director for the franchise and he injects meaningful dialogue into powerful visual story-telling; in so doing, he compellingly explores the themes of isolation, discovery, and blends horror science fiction with psychological drama in an emotionally realistic way. The cast work assiduously to bring their characters to life; the movie design is well crafted; and the special effects are sophisticated and impactful. The film provides compelling viewing, especially in the visual nature of its story-telling.
The xenomorph, and other vicious crawlies, which the colonisers disturb, are genuinely scary. The richness of the film’s dialogue provides an added dimension that characterises a film that is grounded solidly within the horror genre. It is a spectacular horror movie that confronts the viewer almost at every disturbing turn. As the pace picks up, however, viewers need to realise they are not in for an easy ride.
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