NEW YORK (OSV News) – It’s time to get back to the scary movies, as director and co-writer Fede Alvarez expands a franchise that stretches back to 1979 with “Alien: Romulus” (20th Century). His contribution to the sci-fi horror saga confronts viewers with both gruesome images and vulgar dialogue, which greatly limits the appeal of this installment.

In the days of the Carter administration, it was Sigourney Weaver as astronaut Ellen Ripley who was plagued by the series’ typical combination of small scurrying and large slavering creatures. This time, Cailee Spaeny plays her current opponent, the young but beleaguered miner Rain Carradine.

Rain has spent years working on a distant, sunless planet where a massive corporation keeps its employees as virtual slaves. However, she has found some solace in the company of a human-looking robot named Andy (David Jonsson). He was programmed to protect Rain, and she considers him her brother.

Rain’s ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux) has hatched an escape plan and convinces her to join him and a trio of her co-workers in their breakout. Unfortunately, the makeshift posse, which includes Andy, discovers too late that the abandoned spaceship that is a key part of Tyler’s plan is infested with deadly predators.

The script, written in collaboration with Rodo Sayagues, touches on themes such as loyalty, betrayal, misguided attempts to perfect human nature, and the tension between cold reason and heartfelt compassion. In addition, Andy is portrayed as mentally unstable and reactions to his vulnerability are used to establish the moral stance of various characters.

But of course, all of that is irrelevant when you’re showing off the monsters and the bloody toll they exact. The uninhibited way in which Alvarez does this makes his film suitable for few.

The film contains brief but extremely bloody scenes, gross-out images, a pregnancy outside of marriage, a few instances each of foul language and milder cursing, frequent coarse language, and numerous profanities. The OSV News classification is L – Restricted Adult Audiences, films whose problematic content many adults would find disturbing. The Motion Picture Association rating is R – Restricted. Under 17s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

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