Isabela Merced says she’s seen half of Alien: Romulus on an iPad, and one scene in particular is so ‘disgusting’ that other cast members had to look away.
Ever since the series began in 1979, Alien has traded in its own style of body horror. Forty-five years on, the original film's parasite birth sequence still has an impact that other entries in the franchise have seldom quite matched.
Logically enough, Alien: Romulus will continue the body horror tradition – and according to Isabela Merced, who will star alongside Cailee Spaeny in a young cast of potential xenomorph victims, one scene in the film is particularly intense. In a lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Merced recalls being on set during a round of reshoots and holding an iPad belonging to director Fede Alvarez.
Between takes, Merced says, she and several other cast members stood and watched a fair chunk of the film – including one scene in particular that left several viewers averting their gaze.
“Fede Álvarez gave me the iPad where he watches playback, and he had the movie pulled up,” Merced said. “So I told him I wanted to see parts of it, and he showed it to me. I was the one holding the iPad, and there were ten people around me watching it on the iPad. So there’s a scene that I’m in, and they all had to turn away. Not one person stayed looking at that iPad because it was so disgusting.”
World of Reel appears to have its own inside source that knows what happens in the scene Merced describes; it’s potentially quite a big spoiler, so if you want to know more, you can read that outlet’s brief description.
Although we haven’t seen a trailer or had much in the way of detail about Alien: Romulus yet, Cailee Spaeny has revealed that the film takes place between the events of Alien and 1986’s Aliens – roughly the same time period that the videogame Alien: Isolation was set. That game featured Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda.
‘Disgusting’ though at least one scene in Alien: Romulus is likely to be, the sequel appears to have gotten a gleeful response from Alien director (and Romulus co-producer) Ridley Scott. Last year, Alvarez said that Scott was given a private screening of the film, after which the veteran director delivered the verdict, “It’s fucking great.”
We sincerely hope it is.
Alien: Romulus is out in UK cinemas on the 16th August 2024.
