Alien: Earth is the best the franchise has been since Isolation; scary, thought-provoking, and thoroughly distinct. For a lifetime fan, this is what dreams (and nightmares) are made of.
The dark ages of Alien and Predator are over. We’re no longer being fed gruel like AVP: Requiem, Colonial Marines, and The Predator (2010’s Predators gets a pass; underrated), and for the first time in decades, I can safely say: whoever wins, we win.
Prey was the only movie to hold a candle to the original, Predator: Killer of Killers was incredible, Predator: Badlands looks like it’s paving the way for a crossover that’ll actually be worth watching, and Alien: Romulus was… fine (undeniably dazzling and well-staged, but a little uninspired).
Thanks to Noah Hawley (the man behind Legion and Fargo), Alien: Earth evens the odds. It’s true prestige television: a technically brilliant, cinematic show that wouldn’t be out of place on the big screen, but inversely, it commits to its medium rather than feeling like a chopped-up, over-extended film.
(This review is based on Episodes 1-6.)
What is Alien: Earth about?
Two years before chaos befalls Ellen Ripley and the crew of the Nostromo, a Weyland-Yutani deep-space research vessel (the USCSS Maginot) crash-lands into Prodigy City, a metropolis governed by its eponymous, seemingly evolutionary yet secretly greedy corporation.
Yutani (Sandra Yi Sencindiver) wants the ship – and everything inside it – back. Boy Kevalier (Samuel Blenkin), Prodigy’s perpetually bare-footed CEO, says no. Instead, he sends Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), his right-hand synthetic, a team of hybrid prototypes, and soldiers to find out exactly what lies within. The short answer: nothing good, and with a Xenomorph among… other disgusting, life-threatening “specimens”, an already perilous exfil becomes a fight for survival.
That’s basically the logline, but there’s way more to Alien: Earth. There’s broader worldbuilding in play here, like the foregrounding of the planet’s “intelligence race” and the question of which synthetic technology will prevail, or the inclusion of other lifeforms (which are hideously rendered; complimentary).
Alien: Earth is bigger (and better) than you’re ready for
Where Romulus felt like little more than a technical showcase made by a fan, Alien: Earth is richly considered in almost every scene; unpredictable, and occasionally difficult to follow – and that’s a good thing. Prometheus had big ideas (still a borderline masterpiece), Alien: Covenant was peerlessly grim but a clear regression, and even when it borrows from the series’ playbook, there’s substance in the action.
That’s not to say any of it feels derivative: its Xenomorph scenes are viciously and tensely envisioned (practical effects always win), and it carries a unique editing style that’s affecting in all sorts of ways; cross-fades that are sometimes beautiful, other times ominous, and flickers of horror that are patiently deployed.
A small handful of slightly janky moments aside, the show looks phenomenal top to bottom; credit to the production designers, cinematographers (if you like split diopters, you’ll be pleased), and Hawley for making the small screen feel so immersive and intricately detailed.
There’s another small touch that really works: instead of standard recaps, the opening of each new episode is formatted almost like a teaser trailer, with its iconic letters fading in over last week’s events.
The music, composed by Jeff Russo, doesn’t reach the same heights as Jerry Goldsmith or even Harry Gregson-Williams’ ‘Life’ from Prometheus. However, its theme is remarkably simple and effective, almost reminiscent of The Brutalist’s blaring, rousing trumpets.
Sydney Chandler is great in Alien: Earth (along with everyone else)
Wendy (Sydney Chandler), the first Prodigy hybrid, is one of the most interesting protagonists since Ripley’s clone in Alien: Resurrection. It’s a difficult role for Chandler, but the character is superbly performed and written, imbued with child-like wonder and curiosity, clear-sighted but also temperamental, and a fantastic character to hang the series on.
Olyphant, modeled on Blade Runner’s Roy Batty without the sociopathy, is in terrific form, delivering lines in a cadence that’s entirely new territory for him (ironically, Hitman was a more robotic performance).
Other actors and characters are worthy of note too, but in aid of preserving the show’s secrets, here’s a quick appraisal: Alex Lawther is perfectly fine (through little fault of his own, his role is a bit bland), Blenkin is a little too good at being a sh*t-eating “boy genius”, and Babou Ceesay is tremendous as Morrow, a cyborg that’s at odds with Prodigy’s team.
Of course, there’s a truth that shadows over the show: ultimately, beneath any sophisticated taste, people are here to see a Xenomorph mess people up and Face Huggers wrap their skinny fingers around some poor sod’s head. The alien is the star, and I’ll say this: you won’t be disappointed, but this may be more of an obsession than you’ve anticipated.
Alien: Earth score – 5/5
Alien: Earth is the gooey, frightening middle-ground for loyalists and Prometheus enjoyers; fascinating, humanity-probing ideas conveyed with the help of cinema’s greatest monster. Long may its voyage continue.
In 2025, you will discover in Alien: Earth, everyone can hear you scream.
Lunar Outpost celebrates release of Lego Moon Rover Space Vehicle