Alien: Romulus marks the seventh chapter in the enduring Alien saga, directed by Fede Álvarez. Set between the events of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) (with some nice callbacks to Aliens), this installment offers a standalone story that attempts to both honor the legacy of its predecessors and venture into new, occasionally truly unsettling territory.
The narrative follows a group of young space colonizers and an android who, while scavenging a derelict space station, encounter the relentless Xenomorph. The stakes are immediate as they must navigate the station’s claustrophobic corridors, fend off Facehuggers, and survive encounters with a rapidly evolving human-Xenomorph hybrid, all the while facing impending collision of their ship with a beautifully and quite detailed depiction of an icy planetary ring.
Álvarez’s direction recreates the original film’s claustrophobic tension while introducing fresh, and at times, disturbing elements to the franchise’s lore (more on that in later in this review). The production design is good, creating an atmosphere thick with dread, with plenty of practical effects. The action sequences are intense, with the film pushing the boundaries of CGI, including a controversial character that has sparked much discussion among fans.
But what of the scientific content and themes in the movie? Well, there are a few. Be warned, spoilers like ahead!
Thermal Invisibility: Fiction Grounded in Science
In a particularly memorable scene, the characters adjust the climate control to match a room’s temperature to their body temperature, attempting to become “invisible” to the visually blind but heat- (and noise-) sensitive Facehuggers in order to transition through the room. This tactic taps into the real-world concept of thermal camouflage, a strategy used in both the animal kingdom and military technology.
In nature, creatures like pit vipers use infrared sensing to detect the body heat of their prey. By lowering or masking their thermal signature, an animal—or a human—might evade such predators. This is similar to how in Predator (1987), the protagonist (Arnold as Dutch!) uses mud to lower his heat signature, evading detection from an alien hunter that also relies on infrared vision.
However, while the science behind thermal invisibility is intriguing, the film needs to stretch credibility a little. Achieving a perfect temperature match with the various bodies of the individuals would be exceedingly difficult in practice, given the human body’s continuous heat production through metabolic processes and inter-individual variation. Still, Alien: Romulus effectively uses this concept to create a moment of high tension that draws from both real science and science fiction tradition.
A Confused Android
Andy, the main android in the movie is a helpful, albeit a little confused, companion to the main protagonist. At one point in the story, they discover the remains of a previous, damaged android – and decide their only chance at survival is to access its memory banks. They achieve this by combining the memory chip from the damaged android, but this, of course, introduces problems as he inherits (and is commanded by the damaged android) to fulfill the previous mission, which was essentially to protect and transport the xenomorph organisms (there’s also some dubious CGI of the late Ian Holm as Ash the Android, which is generating some discussion).
One of the nice touches, especially from my perspective as a roboticist, is that Andy is quite physically capable, but that his control systems are currently not capable of unlocking that potential – until he is “upgraded” with components of the old android Ash, at which point he becomes superhuman in its physical capabilities. An ongoing debate in the robotics field is whether robotics tech is most limited by its hardware components, or its “software” control components. There have been famous examples of tele-operated (remotely controlled) robots cleaning up houses slowly but reasonably well: posited as a demo that the hardware is at least theoretically capable of these useful tasks, and that it’s the software that’s been letting us down.
Dodging Acid in Zero-G
Another standout, and genuinely novel in this series, sequence involves the characters navigating a zero-gravity environment while fending off Xenomorphs, whose acid blood floats freely in the absence of gravity. One of the key themes throughout the entire alien series is the dilemma of whether to fight back against the xenomorphs – damaging them in any way can release their highly corrosive acid blood, which in space-ship environments then jeopardizes the structural integrity of the ship and the people involved.
But shooting them in zero gravity introduces a complex and hazardous situation. The acid, no longer bound by gravity, forms droplets and clouds that pose a significant threat to anyone in their path.
In zero gravity, liquids behave unpredictably—forming spheres or spreading out in all directions. This behavior is a known challenge in real-world space missions, where even a small fluid leak can become a widespread hazard. On the International Space Station, astronauts must carefully manage fluids, as they do not settle or fall as they do on Earth. A floating acid cloud would be an even greater danger, as the corrosive liquid could cause catastrophic damage to both equipment and personnel. In the movie, the floating acid is dangerous both in the zero gravity environment (for the characters) and for the ship’s hull integrity (when the ship’s artificial gravity is turned back on).
This scene in Alien: Romulus echoes the tension seen in Gravity (2013), where debris from a satellite collision creates life-threatening conditions in space. Both films explore the unique dangers of operating in microgravity, where even small particles or fluids can become deadly. The concept of acid blood in zero-G, while terrifying, is a logical extension of the Xenomorph’s established biology and the realities of space, making this one of the film’s most scientifically compelling moments.
The Hybrid Xenomorph: Genetic Engineering’s Dark Side
The introduction of a human-Xenomorph hybrid in Alien: Romulus represents a chilling evolution in the franchise’s exploration of bioengineering and hybridization. This new creature, created through the injection of a substance derived from the Xenomorphs—dubbed “Prometheus fire”—into a human, embodies both the horrors and potential dangers of pushing the boundaries of genetic science. It bears some resemblance to the create at the end of Alien Resurrection (Alien 4), but I found this one much more disturbing, in part because of its obvious visual links to the Engineers found in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
The idea of a hybrid organism touches on real-world discussions around genetic engineering, particularly the ethical implications of technologies like CRISPR-Cas9. While CRISPR offers the potential for significant advancements in medicine, it also raises concerns about the unintended consequences of altering the human genome. The hybrid Xenomorph in Romulus is a cautionary tale of what can happen when humanity’s drive for perfection leads to the creation of something uncontrollable and deadly (not that this creature was the result of deliberate human manipulation in this case).
Moreover, the film’s portrayal of the hybrid’s accelerated growth and inherent hostility underscores the unpredictability of hybrid organisms. The creature’s rapid development and violent nature highlight the potential dangers of merging DNA from different species, a theme that resonates with broader concerns about the limits and risks of genetic manipulation.
Final Verdict
Alien: Romulus succeeds in blending high-stakes horror with scientifically intriguing concepts, pushing the Alien franchise into new and unsettling territories. The film’s exploration of thermal camouflage, zero-gravity dangers, conflicted androids, and the ethical quagmire of genetic engineering adds depth to the narrative, making it a worthy addition to the canon. While the science may occasionally stretch plausibility, it does so in service of a gripping, tension-filled story that honors the franchise’s legacy while exploring the darker side of human ambition and survival.
8 / 10 from me!