The Alien films have always been contradictory in their feminism – but Alien: Romulus avoids the issue entirely

20th Century Studios via AP by Joy McEntee, University of Adelaide This piece contains spoilers. In Alien: Romulus, Rain Carradine (Caylee Spaeny) and her android “brother” Andy (David Jonsson) are marginalised and exploited by their mining colony. They join a group of young people who stage a raid on an abandoned space station in the hope of stealing equipment so they can planet hop to a better world. But in the Alien universe, space vessels are never abandoned for no reason. The group soon find themselves falling victim, one by one and in gruesome ways, to science fiction’s most ferocious predator. That much is to be taken as read the minute you buy your ticket for any of the movies in the Alien franchise. And there is another thing you can take for granted: the Alien franchise has always been about women, and it has always been about mothers. Each entry has taught us how to think about women and mothers, and about the wave of feminism – or the backlash to feminism – contemporary with its making. Unfortunately, this latest contribution to the series seems to not be interested in feminist politics at all. Riding the waves of feminism...