'Alien: Romulus' Is Gritty, Gross And ...Good!
#285: "Alien: Romulus," "Snack Shack," "Amelie," "Margaret"
Edition 285:
Hey movie lovers!
This week: A new Alien movie…starring young people! A super-indie that’s a teenage boy fantasy, a French joy machine and a streamer for the intellectual crowd. In this week’s “Trailer Watch,” a high school party goes berserk over killer technology.
Alien: Romulus
The summer of legacy sequels rolls on, and as long as every big movie put in front of us is going to be a take on something successful from the past, the best we can hope for is for that take to be fresh enough to maintain some authorial signature as it passes through the mass production assembly line.
Legacy sequels have in some cases the potential to do that, which is why I prefer them to full-blown franchise installments, at least in their first iteration. Reviving something 30 or 50 years old has less strings attached and interests to safeguard than the box office expectation of a trilogy (and these days, only three movies is merciful).
The best we can hope for, in other words, is Alien: Romulus.
This is the first Alien movie since 2017, but reports to be a sequel to 1979’s original. It’s part of Disney’s post-merger strategy to lower the temperature on some classic Fox IP franchises by rebooting them with smaller budgets and ambitions (2022’s Prey is another example, an awesome little thriller).
Rather than some intergalactic epic, this story follows a band of young adventurers who set out to explore an abandoned spaceship that holds the supplies they need to escape to another solar system. Only problem is, surprise surprise, the ship is infested with pesky ol’ facehugger and Zenomorph aliens aboard ready to kill them in any number of creative ways.
Director Fede Alvarez is something of a specialist when it comes to these intense, claustrophobic, horror-leaning thrillers, best exemplified in the excellent 2016 home invasion flick Don’t Breathe.
What Alvarez can do, better than just about anyone, is provide a constant stream of complications, then solutions, followed by more complications, so that almost every second of his movies are packed with tension and anxiety.
Let me explain what I mean. In the classic example, think about the scene in Die Hard where John McClain needs to repel down from the roof of the skyscraper. He doesn’t have a harness (complication), so he ties the fire hose around his waist (solution), swings down but can’t kick out the door (complication), so he shoots it with his gun (solution), swings in and we exhale think he’s safe…until the counterweight of the rope drops off the building and drags him out the window again.
It’s like the screenwriting equivalent of a Rube Goldberg machine, and makes for infinitely watchable thrillers. As an extension of that, Alvarez has also developed another signature in his films: a “fourth act.” We all know the traditional three act structure ends with a climax and falling action. But once again, just as a viewer relaxes, Alvarez kicks you back into danger mode for one final, unexpected showdown.
I love it, both from the constant sense of problem solving and the particular excitement of not knowing where a movie’s plot could possibly go next at any given moment.
The real criticisms of the movie, especially coming from the online fanboy crowd, come from its connection to the lore of past Alien movies — whether it be the repeating of an iconic line from Aliens or the completely unnecessary use of the now-deceased actor Ian Holm as an obviously CGI’d robot person (a “synthetic,” in Alien parlance).
Those little crumbs of fan service are annoying, to be sure, but bothered me less in this instance because 1) I’ve accepted that that’s the price of doing business in an IP world, and 2) I’ve always held the Alien mythology far less tightly than other extended universes.
Why? Well the first three movies are stylistic opposites in many ways, and serve more as a sci-fi sandbox for which super talented directors can play (Ridley Scott, James Cameron and David Fincher, what a trio to start). Plus, the series lost most of its narrative legitimacy in my eyes the moment it ret-conned its origin story in order to smash together two crappy crossover movies with Predator.
Apparently Ridley Scott (the godfather of the franchise and director of the two middle movies I haven’t yet mentioned) was heavily involved in this reboot, restoring at the very least the retro-futuristic aesthetic and penchant for body horror.
While I wouldn’t call this a “horror movie” in the way we usually think about, like, The Conjuring, I will warn you: it’s pretty gnarly (bursting chest cavities are a franchise staple, and are far from the worst of it). One doesn’t go into blockbuster movies expected to be shocked or grossed out by anything on screen, so for that I give Romulus major props.
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, this movie is a shining example of what can happen when you correct the problem I raised last month with Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. Namely, that movies are never led by young people anymore.
26-year-old Cailee Spaeny leads a cast of relative unknowns, though 30-year-old David Jonsson continues to prove his talent after two seasons on “Industry.” By sheer fact of their age, these fresh faces give the movie a vitality and naivety that really take it to the next level. Spaeny, who starred in Priscilla last yar and Civil War earlier this year, may not match Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley (who could), but this solidifies her ascendance toward the A-list.
In a stronger movie year, maybe these attributes wouldn’t seem so outstanding, but I’m struggling to find many movies I liked more than Romulus in 2024. It’s telling, especially considering my natural resistance toward big(ger) budget horror, that two of my top three this year come from the genre (other being A Quiet Place: Day One).
More than ever before, it seems horror is where filmmakers are still allowed to take chances, and audiences have proven they’ll still show up to see them. If that trend continues, I may have to become a horror lover after all.
Something New
Snack Shack (SlingTV, MGM+, VOD): It’s summer in the 1990s, and two entrepreneurial-minded teenagers bid on and win the rights to operate the snack shack at the local pool. They each fall for the same girl. Hijinks ensue.
Whatever stereotypes are in your head about this buzzy indie buddy comedy, I’m here to tell you…they’re all true. The movie is a teenage boy fantasy. Every bet they place at the dog track hits, every crazy scheme works, every bully gets their comeuppance, every girl digs their vibe. Through that, it’s a testament to stars Conor Sherry and Gabriel LaBelle (the latter of which is playing Lorne Michaels in the upcoming Saturday Night) that this movie remains so damn entertaining and watchable. They have not only great chemistry but also an energy that makes the movie feel light on its feat, so much so that the movie drags the second it tries to get serious. Thankfully, it steers right back into fun immediately after, and finishes off with that saccharine, indie movie send-off into the sunset. In terms of micro-indie of the year, this is the clubhouse leader.
Something Old
Amélie (2001, Max): This movie is like if Wes Anderson was French (he’s not, no matter how hard he wants to be). Its vision of 1990s Paris is a dreamworld of colors and cafes and a lovelorn young woman who finds purpose in doing good deeds for others but doesn’t know how to take care of herself. The direction is designed within an inch of its life (a la Wes) and most of the dialogue comes from an omniscient, novel-esque narrator. But what the movie is, really, is an incredibly charming ode to shy people. The titular Amelie is adorable, explained like every other character in the movie through their eccentricities, with the goal of getting a viewer to appreciate the quirky details of life. And what a life it is!
Something to Stream
Margaret (Hulu): It’s best to think of this movie like a three-Michelin star meal. In order to fully enjoy it, you need to be sophisticated about food and have tried a lot of one- and two-star restaurants to be able to distinguish what makes this one so great. If not, you can still tell that, objectively, the experience is excellent whether or not you’re personally enjoying it. Kenneth Lonergan’s young adult drama gives a viewer a lot to chew on (perhaps unlike many Michelin meals) without much in the way of explanation. It’s an example, for me, of a movie that’s just slightly too elevated (dare I say pretentious) for me.
Anna Paquin stars as a high school girl who witnesses a fatal car crash and partially blames herself for it, emotionally unraveling her entire life in pursuit of absolution. She throws herself at a cadre of men — including a teenage Kieran Culkin, a 20-something Matt Damon, and future “The Newsroom” lead John Gallagher Jr. None of that even mentions “Succession” star J. Smith Cameron as the single mom, Jean Reno as her new boyfriend, Mark Ruffalo as the antagonist (sort of), and Allison Janney. Each scene is thrilling, showcasing Lonergan’s mastery of dialogue especially, but its meandering (intentionally) across 2hr30min runtime left me searching for clarity a little more.
Trailer Watch: Y2K
The A24 logo has come to signal many things when you’re watching a movie trailer. Which is why it’s so surprising to see what seems at first glance to be a pretty basic coming of age comedy about a loser high school kid trying to get the girl at a New Years Eve party. Pretty standard stuff. Then a hairspray can light a kid on fire.
SNL veteran Kyle Mooney gets his first turn in the director’s chair in this absurd horror comedy that imagines what would happen if the Y2K crisis actually did cause all electronics to go rogue. It’s jam-packed with late-90s nostalgia but, like a lot of latter day SNL, it is definitely trying extremely hard to be funny (as discussed in previous newsletters, I don’t knock the hustle), which may turn off the younger audiences it’s trying to reach with a cast including Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) and Jaeden Martell (It).
Margaret also has a 3hr06min extended cut. I can't remember the difference (well, 36 minutes), but great film, Paquin is just fantastic in it. Jeannie Berlin too (daughter of Elaine May). Nothing on Alain Delon?