By John Mulderig
It’s time to face off with the face grippers again as director and co-writer Fede Alvarez extends a franchise that reaches back to 1979 with “Alien: Romulus” (20th Century).
His addition to the sci-fi horror saga confronts viewers with both grisly visuals and vulgar dialogue, thus severely restricting this instalment’s appeal.
Back in the days of the Carter administration, it was Sigourney Weaver as astronaut Ellen Ripley who was plagued by the series’ trademark combination of small skittering and large slavering creatures. This time out, Cailee Spaeny plays their current adversary, youthful but beleaguered miner Rain Carradine.
Rain has spent years working on a distant, sunless planet where a huge conglomerate holds its employees in virtual slavery. She has found some consolation, however, in the companionship of a human-looking robot called Andy (David Jonsson). He’s been programmed to protect Rain and she regards him as her brother.
Rain’s ex-boyfriend, Tyler (Archie Renaux), has concocted an escape plan and convinces her to join him and a trio of their fellow toilers as they make a breakout. Unfortunately, the impromptu band, which also includes Andy, discovers too late that the abandoned spacecraft that represents a key element of Tyler’s scheme is infested with deadly predators.
As penned in collaboration with Rodo Sayagues, the script touches on themes of loyalty, betrayal, misguided attempts to perfect human nature and the tension between cold reason and heartfelt sympathy. Additionally, Andy is presented as mentally fragile, and reactions to his vulnerability are used to establish the moral standing of various characters.
But all that is incidental, of course, to showcasing the monsters and the bloody toll they exact. The unrestrained way in which Alvarez does so makes his movie suitable for few.
The film contains brief but extreme gore, hideous images, an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, a couple of instances each of profanity and milder swearing, frequent rough language and numerous crude expressions.
The OSV News classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.