Taking place in a set of events between Alien(1979) and Aliens(1986), Alien: Romulus follows the story of a group of space colonizers who venture into the deep end of the spaceship to retrieve the cryostasis chambers in order to escape to the planet of Yvaga. This, until they encounter their worst nightmare in the form of Xenomorph, a dormant alien who is known to be the deadliest of the lot. The story here follows a standard template as far as the alien franchise is concerned but credit to the writers for creating an ambience of fear that accompanies the narrative. There is a simmering tension that is triggered by the actions of the protagonists very early on in the film, something that keeps on building up until all hell breaks loose in a screenplay standing at 120 minutes which is terrifying to the core. The idea was to introduce a steady buildup that would last just long enough to hold your attention before completely shifting gears in what seemed like a terrifying tribute to the original film.

The drama begins with the introduction of the protagonist Rain and her synthesizer human friend Andy who are coaxed into a discrete adventure by Rain’s colleagues to retrieve the cryostasis chamber which would help them escape to the planet of Yvaga. There is a considerable buildup even as the screenplay is stacked by jargons even as the characters prepare for their pursuit towards their mission. The writers do well in creating a sort of a smoke-screen for the viewers wherein you do know what lies ahead, yet you aren’t sure on exactly what point would hell unleash itself on the characters. And this cat and mouse game between the viewers and the characters of the film ensures that there is an ambience of tension which is created, something that the writers simmer for almost the entire first act. Yet, just when you are familiar with the character traits and the threats of the world that accompany the narrative, the writers inject that element of fear, only never to look back from that point.

In a scene at the transition of the first and the second act, you see a bunch of characters locked down in a chamber with their only source of escape – Andy, the humanist AI being fatally disconnected from the system. And even as Rain and her colleagues try and revive Andy, the focus of the writing lies elsewhere in the water, along with a flutter that injects a sense of mystery around it. Just as the intensity of the levels of tension are raised by it, a full throttle attack completely changes the dimension of the drama that never looks back from that point. The transition from an out and out Sci-Fi drama to a survival thriller of sorts is rather seamless, even as you get details about the presence of an ‘alien’ entity that spits acid to kill off its prey, along with the ability to be a parasite of sorts while injecting its fluids inside a human body. And even as you grapple with these terrifying details, the drama never provides any respite even as the characters jostle for survival, and the bodies keep stacking up.

I liked how the stakes in the drama are raised even while connecting the dots in the narrative, and steering the screenplay in the logical direction. The proceedings are engaging, and even as the threat looms large, it allows the viewers to be on their toes even as the events take a terrifying turn at regular junctures. These events can be termed as basic fan service, but they are done really well in order to cater to the interest of the viewers. This could also have been a simplistic end to an otherwise thrilling film. But kudos to the writers for also adding layers to the 30 odd minute final act wherein the nagging presence of the creature is absorbing while posing a plethora of challenges for the protagonist along the way. The end definitely left me satisfied to the core, thereby summing up the screenplay that is very well written and manages to thrill throughout the narrative.