While plot details forFede Alvarez’s upcomingAlienfilmare scarce, Alvarez’s previous films are very telling regarding the approach that Alvarez has taken with the new film, which has the working title ofAlien: Romulus.
With Alvarez’s feature directorial debut, 2013’sEvil Dead, and his second film, the 2016 horror-thriller filmDon’t Breathe, Alvarez demonstrated a clear propensity for placing young characters, either teenagers or twenty-something people, in terrifying situations, and this pattern certainly continues with Alvarez’sAlienfilm, which has a cast of actors and actresses who are all in their twenties.
Secondly, Alvarez’s vision for the newAlienfilm has been wholeheartedly endorsed by Ridley Scott, who also serves as a producer on the new movie. Does this indicate that the new film will be, stylistically and tonally, much more similar to the firstAlienfilm than James Cameron’sAliens, or has Alvarez found a compromise, or has he gone in a completely different direction?
Moreover, as Alvarez’s film represents the ninth entry in theAlienfilm series, to what degree can, and should, Alvarez’s film break from the past films while still incorporating the core elements that made the series so compelling and terrifying, to begin with?
Alien 101: Don’t Fix What Still Works
Fede Alvarez needs to demonstratea clear understanding of what made theAlienfilm series so initially compelling and frightening, withAlienandAliens, and also why the series became increasingly repetitive. Accordingly, given how old the series is, it’s important for the new film to keep everything as simple and succinct as possible.
With the firstAlienfilm, Ridley Scott established theAlienseries as a haunted house experience in the dreadful, yawning void of outer space, where space explorers are introduced for the primary purpose of first discovering a horrifying alien creature, also known as a Xenomorph, and then fighting for survival, and while the characters in Alvarez’s film are substantially younger than the characters inAlien, this basic storyline, which has long been the hallmark of theAlienseries, has seemingly been applied to the new film.
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In contrast to the deep existential questions that Scott posed in theAlienprequel filmsAlien: CovenantandPrometheus,Alienunfolds as a relentless monster film that nonetheless introduces disturbing questions regarding the origin of the alien creature and the derelict ship, along with the gruesome fate of the abducted characters Brett and Dallas. Whether with a single alien creature, as the new film’s title suggests, or with a legion of them, Alvarez’s film can achieve the same effect asAlienby balancing jolting shocks and visuals with equally terrifying implications and thoughts.
James Cameron’sAliensis also very instructive, as while Cameron’s action-packed approach toAliensseemingly stands in contrast to Scott’s claustrophobic approach, the unseen horrors ofAliens, specifically regarding the horrible fate of the doomed colonists of LV-426, are just as terrifying as what appears in the film.
Moreover, while Alvarez’s film has been described as being a standalone film, the new movie would benefit from incorporating a story element that at least approximates the unspeakable thought of what happens to someone, especially small children, after they’re taken, and then impregnated, by an alien creature.
No More Ripley Clones
AsEllen Ripley, Sigourney Weaver, over the course of four films, created one of the most iconic action hero characters in film history, and while Ripley has been absent from theAlienfilm series for over twenty-five years, there have been several Ripley iterations, namely Daniels, played by Katherine Waterston, inAlien: Covenant, and Elizabeth Shaw, played by Noomi Rapace, inPrometheus.
However, while these new characters certainly made a notable impression in their respective films, it’s clearly time to establish a new kind of protagonist within the series. Moreover, as theAlienseries has been so dominated by female protagonists, and as theyoung cast of the new filmseems to have an equal female-male split, it would be a nice change of pace, if not a complete shock, to see a courageous and sympathetic male protagonist emerge in the new film.
Indeed, it would be a mistake, and would blunt the new film’s effectiveness, if Alvarez’s film too clearly telegraphs the emergence of a new female action hero, a new Ripley, as opposed to building suspense by leaving the audience to guess, much like what Ridley Scott did withAlien, as to who will be the ultimate survivor of the alien attack. Of course, it would also be admirable, and completely novel, if the new film didn’t leave any human survivors at all.
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The New Film Has to Have Relevance and Resonance
IfFede Alvarez’sAlienfilmrepresents solely a non-stop thriller ride, in the vein ofDon’t BreatheandEvil Dead, with an Alien creature, or multiple creatures, substituted for demonic spirits or a human killer, the film could be a superior form of entertainment but nothing much more.
However, to truly breathe new life into theAlienfilm series, so to speak, the new film, likeAlienandAliens, has to echo with audiences long after the movie is over.
The new filmhas to raise the stakes, so to speak, by presenting an alien menace that represents a threat to not only the film’s teenage or twenty-something characters, who could easily be dismissed as typical horror film fodder but also to the surrounding world, especially one that might be completely unaware of the existence of said creature, along the lines of what happened to the LV-426 colony.
Seemingly unbound by the history of the series, with a young cast of characters, Alvarez’sAlienfilm has a lot of potential. Now the fate of the film, and the series, depends on just how far the film is able and willing to go.
