The Night Diver

First, I would like to admit that my experience of watching the Alien Franchise is very limited. Around the time I was actually watching movie, the only Alien movie out at the time was Alien Vs. Predator. Judging from the discourse, that would have been a horrible introduction into the world, and I’m glad that I was still too squeamish to watch horror movies by then. Until now, the Alien franchise is something I have known about, but I still shied away because of the less-than-stellar impressions of more recent installments such as Prometheus or Alien Covenant. If anything, my first true foray into the Alien Mythos was through the excellent game Alien Isolation, which fascinated me with its retro future setting, alongside a monumentally terrifying AI piloting the Xenomorph in the game. Still, I hadn’t really taken the plunge into the franchise yet.

That was until Alien Romulus was announced. The initial reaction was quite promising, considering it was being directed by Fede Alvarez, the mind behind Dont Breathe, which is a master class in building absolutely gut-twisting tension. But what really sealed the deal for me was that Alvarez was inspired by Alien Isolation, which was pretty much considered the last really good piece of Alien media in recent history. However, because of my procrastination, I only had time to watch the first Alien movie before coming to watch this one.

I will say though, this is an absolutely enjoyable entry (as enjoyable as horror can be) for anyone who is new to the franchise. I may argue that this movie is actually best enjoyed if your knowledge of Alien is limited. The setup here is accessible and immediately interesting, with a cast of characters that have great presence on the screen. I would say the show is stolen by David Jonsson, who is playing Andy, the surrogate AI brother of Rain, the lead character of this movie. His acting range is superb, but in addition to that, his ability to switch within his range is downright scary. Throughout the movie, he is able to switch through two very differing personas without making it look jarring. He gives the movie its beating heart, but also provides the slick, mechanical engine that drives the movie forward, making him an amazing addition to the movie, sometimes even stealing the spotlight from Cailee Spaeny’s lead role.

But the leading ensemble are no laughing matter either. They have their own interesting presences in the story, and play their characters very well. There was never a character in there that I didn’t want to see, save for the absolutely terrifying monsters. Their acting is bolstered by the masterfully written script and story, which really exemplifies a scrappy, young energy in the narrative without delving into contrivances or mind-numbing decisions that sometimes exist to drive horror stories. This is something I greatly appreciated in the crafting of this movie. Most of the decisions being made are perfectly in line for the characters, and there is a great amount of intelligence being observed by the characters. They make plans and react to situations in a logical manner, or make mistakes in situations of extreme distress that are quite understandable overall. This made the movie that much more enjoyable and immersive, being able to actually put myself in these decisions instead of laughing at the very obvious obliviousness that comes from other Horror movie characters.

The absolute showcase of the movie is the breathtaking work in visuals, in both beauty and terror. The facehuggers are a constantly menacing presence, acting much more aggressive than I had seen in the original Alien movie, and the practical effects just made them feel even more real. The same goes for the Xenomorph in all its terrifying glory. The masterful use of practical effects alongside tasteful CGI really makes the horrors come alive. Even the set design is absolutely enthralling, with all of its retro-future details being built with meticulous attention. Honestly, I would say that you can remove the aliens and horror, and it would still be an enjoyable watch for the set design and camerawork alone.

As for any issues that I have with the movie, I only had a few. There was one sort of death scene in the movie that necessarily didn’t make sense to me. I will not specify due to spoilers, but this scene specifically felt like the person just kind of waited to die, more than anything. Another slight complaint I’ve seen is the inclusion of franchise callbacks. In my experience, it didn’t really spoil my viewing, since a lot of them flew over my head. But after seeing some scene comparisons, I could see why this might have taken some viewers out of the movie, seeing it as more of an “Alien Greatest Hits” instead of a worthy installment on its own.

Overall, I think this movie is an amazing installment in the Alien Franchise, and I am absolutely excited to see more if they take the same approach in installments moving forward. I personally am considering to rewatch it in theaters, and I have never considered this for any other movies I’ve watched in my life.

My final rating for this movie is 4.5/5 stars