Alien: Romulus gets franchise’s highest Rotten Tomatoes score in over 40 years

Alien: Romulus is the best movie in the franchise since Alien and Aliens, according to Rotten Tomatoes, where it debuted with one of the highest scores in the series.

Here’s the thing with the Alien movies: the first two are among the best horror movies ever made… and then it gets a bit spotty. Alien 3 has its defenders, Alien: Resurrection boasts a brilliant underwater set piece and a harrowing ending, and then we get into the lawless land of AvP.

Ridley Scott took the reins again with Prometheus, a box office monster that’s still the highest-grossing movie in the franchise today. However, it was divisive, and Alien: Covenant did little to regain the faith of its critics.

Alien: Romulus appears to be taking a back-to-basics approach to Xenomorph horror. Set between Alien and Aliens in the timeline, it follows a new crew of scavengers who board a derelict spaceship… and, according to director Fede Álvarez, what they find “costs them dearly.”

And, despite a few reservations and its “digital necromancy” controversy, it’s worked. It currently has an 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes, third in the series behind Alien (93%) and Aliens (94%). You can check out the full ranking below:

1. Aliens – 94%
2. Alien – 93%
3. Alien: Romulus – 83%
4. Prometheus – 73%
5. Alien: Covenant – 65%
6. Alien: Resurrection – 55%
7. Alien 3 – 44%
8. Alien vs Predator – 22%
9. Alien vs Predator: Requiem – 12%

In our review, we called Romulus “the first film in years to once again capture the magic of the original Alien movies and prove the franchise can succeed when focusing on horror over action.”

Before the movie’s wide release on August 16, we’ve got loads of content for you to read: check out our Alien movies ranking, whether or not Alien: Romulus has a post-credits scene, our breakdown of the Xenomorphs’ origins, and if you want to spoil it for yourself, we’ve explained Alien: Romulus’ ending.