With the release ofAlien: Romulus, the Alien franchise is back in the spotlight. It also looks like we’ve got a lot more to look forward to as well, with the upcomingAlien: Rogue Incursionvideo game and theAlien: EarthTV series, which finished shooting in July. But fans (like myself) are ravenous for more sci-fi madness right now.
Luckily, there are some great movies out there that Alien fans will love, from an alien invasion film to a grim and gritty outer space saga, and even a certain film from a franchise that’s so closely associated withAlienthat they (sometimes) inhabit a shared cinematic universe. If you loveAlien: Romulus, check out these three movies currently available online.
Prey (2022)
Alien: Romulusdecided to go back to basics and return to the story and style of theoriginal Alien movies, with it taking place between the first two movies. It also did a great job at returning to the franchise’s horror and suspense roots. If you loved the wayRomuluswas a return to form, you’ll also lovePrey.
The Alien and Predator franchises go together perfectly. So perfectly that they’ve even created their own franchise, Alien vs. Predator. So, Alien fans will definitely lovePrey. Set in the year 1719, the movie follows a young Comanche girl who finds herself stalked through the woods by a Predator.
Unlike the more recent Predator movies, which can only be described as something between a trainwreck and a crapfest,Preygave audiences a fantastic cat-and-mouse chase. It brought back a good dose of fear, suspense, and action to the series and felt like a true successor to the original movie.
Sunshine (2007)
In the year 2057, the sun is dying and the Earth is getting colder. Soon, it will be uninhabitable. Humanity’s last attempt at salvation is sending a group of astronauts to the sun. Their mission is to launch a nuclear bomb into the star, hopefully reigniting it.
Directed by Danny Boyle,Sunshinedefinitely has anAlienvibe to it. Despite the story being quite different, the look and feel of the movie is so similar that you’d think Sunshine is in the same cinematic universe as the iconic xenomorph. That’s no coincidence either. When speaking toEmpire, Boyle himself said that2001: A Space Odyssey,Alien, andSolariswere three massive inspirations for his film.
Another really unique aspect ofSunshineis that the movie completely changes halfway through. I won’t give any spoilers because the mystery is half the fun, but let’s just say something shocking happens andSunshinestarts to feel less like a typical dystopian sci-fi flick and more like a horror movie. It’s brilliant and unexpected, givingSunshinea unique edge over other sci-fi films.
No One Will Save You (2023)
If you’re watchingAlien, it’s probably because you love a good alien movie. And sadly, we don’t get many solid alien films. But one recent alien movie that was surprisingly good is Hulu’sNo One Will Save You. It centers around a young womanwho is home alone during the start of a full-blown global alien invasion. As the title implies, when she escapes her house looking for help, she discovers the rest of her town (and likely the world) has already been attacked.
No One Will Save Youalso has a really great twist ending that’s smart, meta, witty, and totally unexpected for an alien invasion film. By the end, you’re not sure if you’re scared or happy, which is a brilliant and startling way to conclude a blood-pumping invasion film. The movie takes a pretty different approach fromAlien, going for the classic “little gray men” and abductor-beam flying saucers style of extraterrestrials, but it’s still got a solid story that will keep you hooked until the end.
