**Full Alien: Romulus Review here!**

Last Monday morning, I headed to a Central London location for a special screening, a preview of Fede Álvarez’s upcoming Alien: Romulus, followed by a Q&A with the director. As someone who loves the original two films, but had begun to despair at the direction of the latest films, it’s safe to say I was a little apprehensive but, I’m happy to report, left this sneak peek of the footage with huge (Hadley’s) hope!

My main takeaway from both the preview, and the Q&A, is that the series is in very safe hands. Alvarez is a cinephile, and a massive fan of the original film. The preview consisted of 15-20 minutes of footage, and even from that it’s clear that Alvarez is returning us to its horror roots, complete with a characteristic sense of unease and claustrophobia that helped to make his Don’t Breathe such a stressful viewing experience. There’s also an appropriately retro/futuristic set design and an epic sense of scale that feels entirely appropriate.

While Prometheus and Alien: Covenant delved into what the Xenomorphs are and where they came from, Alvarez seems intent on returning to the mystery of the original, on the “otherness” that made the first film so terrifying. What we got from the preview is a pared-back, smaller scale story than the sprawling narratives of the last two films, and all the better for it, with some genuine heart-in-the-mouth moments of suspense and viscerally nasty horror.

Citing Jean Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection, where the biology of the creature is made front and centre, Alvarez said that he wanted to retain the disarming biomechanical aspect of the original. So the Alien’s dome is back, as is the strangely mechanical tubes on its back. His adherence to the lore of the first film is refreshing, and he really seems to embrace the viscerally nasty aspects of the world. When he went off on a gruesome reverie about the perverse nature of the Alien’s, the way they brutally kill their “mother” every time they are born, that was when I knew he was the right man for the job.

He also has an admirably old school approach to filmmaking, stating that his rule of thumb was “If it can be done practical, it will be done practical” And even when CGI is used, it’s done so in such a way to fool the audience. This is a welcome and refreshing approach to take, where a director isn’t showing off all the tech at his fingertips, and instead wants to transport his audience into his specific vision.

It has to be said that despite claiming to be incredible jet-lagged, Alvarez was incredibly articulate, engaging and candid about the process. I could honestly have sat there all day, his love of film is infectious, and he’s a great raconteur, whether he’s talking about his first meeting with the brusque Ridley Scott, or the moment when he first saw the Alien being led onset by someone holding his hand.

His mission statement when making the film seems to have been to make an Alien film that will show the younger generation what they are missing when they casually dismiss older classics, but which also rewards existing fans of the series. Even in the brief clip we saw there were numerous references and visual cues that link to the original films, such as Weyland Yutani branding and Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic leitmotif from the original film.

The sneak peek was incredible, and thrilling, but more encouraging than this is Alvarez himself. His enthusiasm is catching, and his genuine love for the Alien series, and cinema in general was music to my ears. His final answer compared his version of the Alien to Nosferatu. A slow, measured presence rather than the frenetic monsters of most modern sci-fi. As a fan of the franchise, I was already going to see this film, but if the rest is of the same standard as this preview then we’re really in for a treat!

Alien: Romulus will be released on 16 August