Alien: Covenant
2017 · Directed by Ridley Scott
Original language: English
- horror
- science fiction
The story
The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise but is actually a dark, dangerous world.
What it’s like
Cold blue-grey interiors lit by harsh cabin fluorescents, then sudden warm amber glints off a sun-drenched alien valley, its waterfalls and lush green fields rendered with glossy, saturated digital polish. Ridley Scott's camera moves with a deliberate, almost predatory patience: slow tracking shots down sterile corridors, symmetrical compositions of pale android faces, and a long quiet stretch on the planet that trades the franchise's claustrophobia for wide, eerie beauty. The score is sparse and throbbing, with low synth pulses and hushed choral swells that thicken into dread. Tone is unsettled and philosophical, with a cool, clinical sheen that slowly curdles into bodily horror, the mood of a dark rainy night in a lit-up spaceship with something wrong just outside the window. Pacing is methodical, building for long stretches before erupting in brief, brutal bursts of violence, gore and body horror, including an infamous scene of creature birth, so this is not gentle viewing. Its central arc follows a grieving crew member and an android who mirror each other's obsessions with creation, and it suits viewers who want slow-burn sci-fi dread, moody production design, and questions about artificial life over constant action.
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