Warning! Major spoilers ahead for the Alien: Romulus ending.
Summary
Alien: RomulusdirectorFede Alvarez compares the ending of his new film to that of his 2013Evil Deadremake, explaining how the two are very similar. Starring Cailee Spaeny in the lead role, Alvarez’s entry in theAlienfranchise follows a younger crew as they attempt to survive a Xenomorph aboard a derelict space station. Though theAlien: Romulusreviewsare positive as a whole, the ending, in particular, has proven to be a highlight as Spaeny’s Rain faces off against a deadly Xenomorph hybrid known as the Offspring.
In a recent interview withCollider, Alvarez explains that theAlien: Romulusending and the ending to 2013’sEvil Deadactually havea number of elements in common.In the latter film, the protagonist faces off against a demon that seemingly rises from the depths of hell, and the director explains that both this “Abomination” and the Offspring are similar in terms of their escalation of the stakes and the ways in which they were approached from a filmmaking perspective. Check out Alvarez’s comments below:
“It is something that is our natural tendency. If you look at Evil Dead, it is exactly the same ending. An abomination rises from hell. It is actually similar. I would love to see a meme of The Abomination and The Offspring sharing a coffee and a cigarette. They’re very similar creatures and approached in a quite similar way technically.
“I knew that I wanna make sure that I would save the most radical, the most scary stuff for the end. I had this perverse enjoyment of imagining the audience thinking the movie’s over, having heard it gets really scary and thinking it wasn’t that scary, and then suddenly an alarm triggered — boom — and they go, ‘Oh f—k, here we go.’ That’s what I felt last night, particularly because I’m happy that people have been hyping that ending.”
8 Biggest Alien Lore Reveals In Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus draws a ton from its predecessors, but it also builds upon the Alien franchise lore with plenty of exciting new reveals.
Fede Alvarez’s Horror “Fourth Acts” Explained
Alien: Romulus' Ending Is A Major Movie Highlight
Alvarez has previously described theending ofAlien: Romulusand ofEvil Deadas being “fourth acts.“Generally, mainstream movies have a story structure consisting of three acts, with the protagonist’s journey wrapped up by the end of act three. In bothEvil DeadandAlien: Romulus, however, the character’s journey seemingly ends with a more traditional act three climax before they then go on to face their biggest, most extreme challenge yet.
Evil Deadearned somewhat lukewarm reviews from critics but was a box office success, earning $97.5 million worldwide on a $17 million budget.
InAlien: Romulus, the sequence with Rain and Andy in the elevator shaft seemingly serves as the film’s climactic action set piece. The tension lowers after this, as the main threat has seemingly been defeated, and the movie could realistically end with everyone going into cryosleep. Things then kick into high gear, however, as Kay (Isabela Merced) gives birth toAlien: Romulus' Offspring creatureand Rain has a one-on-one fight with the movie’s most terrifying monster.
This ending not only works in the sense that it’s shocking, intense, and scary, butit’s also the perfect callback to Ridley Scott’s originalAlienmovie from 1979.That seminal sci-fi horror memorably ends with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) seemingly safe before she has one last close-quarters battle against the Xenomorph. It’s unclear what Alvarez will be tackling next afterAlien: Romulus, but his penchant for surprise fourth acts has certainly become an exciting director trademark.
“It’s a beautifully shot movie, using the Romulus space station as a playground for slaughter, moody lighting, and a few chill-inducing action scenes as it approaches obliteration in a stray asteroid belt. A third act twist, one that is sure to delight Prometheus lovers (of which I am one), results in a gnarly birth scene and a classic monster chase that feels both of its franchise and a new, uglier version of Alien."-Graeme Guttmann-Screen Rant’s Alien: Romulus Review
$108 million
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Alien: Romulus
Cast
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
