Summary
With an innovative storyline that both recalls earlier entries in the franchise and pushes the lore in exciting new directions,Alien: Romulusis a broadly successful addition totheAlienmovie series. And yet, for all its strengths, when I was watching the 2024 sci-fi horror, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a totally unrelated thriller. While theAlienfranchise has historically relied on xenomorphs, malevolent robots, chestbursters, and mysterious black goo, several details inAlien: Romulusprove that the film has a surprising amount in common with a $165 million cult thriller from 1999.
In many ways,Alien: Romulusmarks a return to what originally made the franchise so successful. Far removed from the polished aesthetic that defined Ridley Scott’s prequels,the film features the retro-futuristic technology that made the 1979 movie particularly distinctive. The movie also incorporates all the elements required of a classicAlienfilm, with nods toevery installment fromAlientoCovenant. But althoughRomulusis undoubtedly steeped in franchise tradition, it also has other more subtle influences. As the story progressed, I found its surprising similarities with one 25-year-old shark movie impossible to ignore.
Alien: Romulus Is Weirdly Similar To Deep Blue Sea
The Story Follows A Very Similar Pattern
WhileRomulushas been lauded and criticized in equal measure for the sheer number ofreferences it includes to previousAlienfilms,the one movie I couldn’t stop thinking about while watching Álvarez’s interquel was the 1999 shark thriller,Deep Blue Sea. LikeAlien: Romulus,Deep Blue Seais set aboard a remote lab in which a series of dubious experiments are taking place for the good of humanity. Although the open ocean is different to outer space, both settings convey a sense of isolation and trap the protagonists alongside some dangerous monsters.
The similarities don’t end there.Both movies involve the central cast desperately trying to escape the research station as it begins to collapse around them. There are also scenes involving lift shafts and isolated crew members being slowly picked off one by one, with the ethics of the labs themselves forming a key plot point. The only real difference is that one story involves hostile, parasitic aliens, and the other features killer sharks.
The Deep Blue Sea Link Doesn’t Help Alien: Romulus' Story
It Undermines The Horror Of What’s Unfolding
The uncanny similarities betweenDeep Blue SeaandAlien: Romulusare bad news for the 2024 film. From a personal perspective, as soon as the connection had been made, I found it impossible not to view the movie through the prism of the notoriously silly Thomas Jane flick. While this didn’t necessarily have to be detrimental, the sad consequence was thatthe comparison undermined the horror of what was unfolding on screen.
In the end, it becomes difficult to be shocked by some ofAlien: Romulus' surprising death scenes when the whole movie is evocative of something so ludicrous.
For all the horrific intensity ofAlien: Romulus, the fact that it seems to recycle key plot elements from a film about giant mako sharks curing Alzheimer’s somewhat dimishes the tension that the movie looks to build. In the end, it becomes difficult to be shocked by some ofAlien: Romulus' gory death sceneswhen the whole movie is evocative of something so ludicrous. The connection betweenAlien: RomulusandDeep Blue Seamay only be tangential. Nevertheless, for me, the link became enough to mar what might otherwise have been an effectively scary horror movie.
