Every Performance In Alien: Romulus, Ranked

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Alien: Romulus.

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Summary

Alien: Romulus boasts fantastic performances from the relatively small cast, allowing each member to shine in their respective roles.
Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu receive the least depth from Alien: Romulus’ script, ranking them as the least effective – yet still solid – performers.
Isabela Merced, Cailee Spaeny, and David Jonnson are all phenomenal in Alian: Romulus, and could easily be reshuffled as the film’s best three performances.

The small cast of Alien: Romulus only goes to highlight some fantastic performances, some more impactful than others. By the time of Alien: Romulus’ climactic ending, the cast of the film certainly gets adequate time to flex their muscles. Alien: Romulus goes back to a more claustrophobic, horror-infused story that the original Alien movie had, while still tying to the broader themes of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Thanks to the former elements of the plot. Alien: Romulus’ relatively small cast gets adequate time to shine.

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In the Alien timeline’s chronology, Alien: Romulus takes place between Alien and Aliens. The story involves a group of young adults from a sun-less mining colony who dream of a better life exploring a derelict space station, before coming across hoards of the iconic Alien franchise’s Xenomorphs. Although Alien: Romulus has some distinct connections to other movies in the franchise, the cast is entirely new. This gives each member their time in the spotlight as they battle against the titular Aliens, providing some of the best performances in the franchise.

Alien: Romulus Cast	Character
Cailee Spaeny	Rain
David Jonnson	Andy
Isabela Merced	Kay
Archie Renaux	Tyler
Spike Fearns	Bjorn
Aileen Wu	Navarro

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There are no bad performances in Alien: Romulus; the following list is simply ranked least effective to most.

6 Spike Fearn

Character: Bjorn

As alluded to, Spike Fearn being ranked at the bottom of this list is not to say his performance was weak in Alien: Romulus, only less effective than his peers. In the film, Fearn plays Bjorn, the cousin of Tyler and Kay. Fearn’s performance is effective in a secondary antagonist way, as his actions towards a likable character like Andy in the film’s first half make him easily detestable. Without Fearn’s performance, in which he channels a lot of subtle grief and obvious anger, the dynamic between Andy and Bjorn would not work as effectively.

Fearn imbues Bjorn with slightly more panic and fear, giving him a side that is not shown during his early scenes…

Later in the movie, Bjorn’s character is given slightly more to do when he is shown trying to protect his girlfriend, Navarro. Fearn imbues Bjorn with slightly more panic and fear, giving him a side that is not shown during his early scenes with Andy. That said, Fearn simply ranks at the bottom of Alien: Romulus’ performances due to his character’s somewhat early death, and thus the lack of time to perform on a deeper level.

5 Aileen Wu

Character: Navarro

Aileen Wu portrays Navarro in Alien: Romulus, the girlfriend of Bjorn. Admittedly, it was difficult to compare the performances of Wu and Fearn at first, primarily due to the fact that their characters received the least amount of depth in the script. Little was revealed about Navarro’s character outside of her pilot skills, meaning Wu – while performing well – did not have much to sink her teeth into. For this reason, Aileen Wu’s performance was almost ranked lowest on this list due to the shortcomings of Alien: Romulus’ script regarding her character. That is, until the chestburster scene.

Wu’s character was the unfortunate victim of a facehugger in Alien: Romulus, with the ensuing horror sequences giving the actor a lot more to do in a short time. The fearful, traumatic, and numb reactions to the facehugger were fantastic from Wu, a performance that was only dialed up when the Xenomorph burst from her chest. Fede Álvarez’s direction deserves as much praise as Wu’s performance, with the violent shaking and convulsing being perfectly horrifying to see. This scene alone bumped Wu’s performance up as the actress elevates the moment to become one of Alien: Romulus’ most disgusting scenes.

4 Archie Renaux

Character: Tyler

Rounding out the bottom half of Alien: Romulus’ great performances is Archie Renaux as Tyler. More so than Bjorn and Navarro, Tyler is a character who sticks around until the latter stages of the movie. For this alone, Tyler gets much more depth than Bjorn’s anger towards androids or Navarro’s pilot skills. This naturally gives Renaux a more nuanced role filled with subtleties in the film’s first half, that explodes into more emotion in the second.

Renaux dials up the emotion as Tyler’s sister, Kay, is put in the firing line of the Xenomorph…

An example of Renaux’s subtleties comes in how he interacts with Cailee Spaeny’s Rain. The two have a romantic history that is unspoken in the film, yet the small looks of care and love Renaux gives Spaeny in the film make Tyler’s feelings abundantly clear. Later in the film, Renaux dials up the emotion as Tyler’s sister, Kay, is put in the firing line of the Xenomorph. Renaux portrays some incredibly vulnerable displays of emotion as Tyler tries to save his sister and Rain, instantly allowing his performance to shine above the still-solid displays of Wu and Fearn.

3 Isabela Merced

Character: Kay

Alien: Romulus‘ best performances are so good that any of the top three could be reshuffled and many would not argue against it. However, in this list, Isabela Merced’s performance as Kay holds the bronze medal. Kay’s character is similar to Navarro’s in that little is revealed about her aside from one defining factor; in Kay’s case, she is pregnant. After this reveal, Kay’s screen time is limited until the latter half of the movie, where Isabela Merced becomes a modern horror scream queen for the ages.

Fede Álvarez confirmed that the father of Kay’s baby is Bjorn, her cousin, adding a level of twisted nuance to Merced’s performance in the one scene where Kay interacts with Bjorn.

Kay’s role is primarily that of an observer. Kay witnesses horrible events around her without being involved in too many herself, giving Merced the chance to flex her range of sheer terror. From the panic of watching someone burn to death via acid blood as a Xenomorph stalks behind her to witnessing the aforementioned chestburster popping out of Navarro, Merced’s performance never dips below outward fear. In the final act, Merced’s performance then takes on a more emotional form in Alien: Romulus’ biggest Alien franchise reveal.

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Alien: Romulus draws a ton from its predecessors, but it also builds upon the Alien franchise lore with plenty of exciting new reveals.

Much like the horror of watching Noomi Rapace’s Shaw birth an alien in Prometheus, Isabela Merced has to act out a similar process with Alien: Romulus’ new Xenomorph hybrid egg. Not only is the fear from early in the movie still present in Merced’s performance, but she truly sells the pain of what Kay’s body is going through. Despite characters like Tyler, Rain, and Andy being given more outward development, the way Merced performs as Kay experiences the terrors of Alien: Romulus makes her the film’s most sympathetic figure.

2 Cailee Spaeny

Character: Rain

As the lead of Alien: Romulus, Cailee Spaeny’s Rain is given the most development of any character in the movie. While her performance might not be as memorable as Merced’s from a horror perspective, it has a much wider range given Rain’s character arc. Only minutes into the film, Spaeny’s depiction of a down-on-her-luck orphan makes Rain immediately sympathetic. The subtle tears forming in her eyes as she explains her parents were killed or upon learning she is stuck on a sunless planet for six more years sell how good Spaeny’s understated performance is, all while setting the foundations for Rain’s arc.

Spaeny gets to embody several different archetypes; Rain is at some points terrified, others protective, others vulnerable, and others downright badass…

In this sense, Spaeny is essentially the Ripley of Alien: Romulus, while bringing her individual flavor to the film. Spaeny gets to embody several different archetypes; Rain is at some points terrified, others protective, others vulnerable, and others downright badass. Spaeny performs each of these moments perfectly, with that same subtlety from early in the film present to make each one believable for Rain’s character. Similarly, the way Spaeny interacts with the other actors, notably David Jonnson, Archie Renaux, and Isabela Merced, makes her the centerpiece of the film. Without Spaeny, Alien: Romulus would not be one of the better-ranked Alien movies.

1 David Jonnson

Character: Andy

The best performance in Alien: Romulus belongs to David Jonnson. Jonnson portrays Andy, a repurposed android who acts as an adoptive brother to Rain, dedicated to protecting her. Later in the film, Andy undergoes some changes that alter his prime directive from doing what is best for Rain to doing what is best for Alien‘s shady Weyland-Yutani Corporation. What makes Jonnson’s performance stand out above his fellow cast members is the fact that he essentially plays two different characters, both with different quirks, motivations, and ideals, with Jonnson differentiating between both expertly.

Throughout the entire film and the many changes Andy undergoes, Jonnson never forgets to make him sympathetic…

Beginning with the first Andy, the protective brother of Rain, Jonnson immediately makes him a character that audiences fall in love with. His dad jokes and protective nature instantly make him someone viewers can root for, with Jonnson creating a rift between the previous important androids in the Alien franchise and Andy. Jonnson rides the line between humans and androids so finely, imbuing Andy with ticks and speech impediments that humans could easily possess, though with the robotic movements of a synthetic.

The second Andy is more of a pseudo-antagonist in Alien: Romulus. The changes in Jonnson’s speech patterns are subtle enough to be from the same character but different enough to hold a somewhat sinister undertone. Although the new version of Andy still protects those around him, he is willing to let them die if it means preserving the goals of Weyland-Yutani. The higher level of confidence and assuredness that Jonnson imbues in the second Andy is perfect, making him feel like an entirely different character, but not without showing hints that the first Andy is still lurking beneath.

Andy’s second personality stems from the android Rook – a
CGI recreation of Ian Holm’s Ash from
Alien

– and his directives.

Throughout the entire film and the many changes Andy undergoes, Jonnson never forgets to make him sympathetic. Andy is undoubtedly one of the more likable characters in the film, making his harder decisions later in the film all the more harrowing. Without Jonnson effortlessly making Andy so likable, none of these decisions would be as effective. All of this, on top of his chemistry with Cailee Spaeny, make Jonnson’s the best performance in Alien: Romulus, and hopefully one the future of the franchise will continue to build on.

Alien: Romulus 3.5 R

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.

Director Fede Alvarez Release Date August 16, 2024 Writers Fede Alvarez , Rodo Sayagues , Dan O’Bannon , Ronald Shusett Cast Cailee Spaeny , David Jonsson , Archie Renaux , Isabela Merced , Spike Fearn , Aileen Wu , Rosie Ede , Soma Simon , Bence Okeke , Viktor Orizu , Robert Bobroczkyi , Trevor Newlin , Annemarie Griggs , Daniel Betts Runtime 119 Minutes

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