Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

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Screenwise Verdict

Alien: Covenant wants to be a heady meditation on creation and consciousness but keeps interrupting itself to show people getting eviscerated by xenomorphs. The result is a movie that doesn't fully commit to either the philosophy or the horror, leaving audiences with a visually impressive but narratively frustrating experience.

Michael Fassbender is genuinely great as the dueling androids, and when the film focuses on David's god complex and Walter's loyalty programming, it's compelling. But then someone has to go investigate a mysterious egg in a dark basement, and we're back to Slasher 101.

The mixed reviews tell the story: critics appreciated the ambition even when the execution faltered, but audiences wanted either smarter philosophy or scarier horror, not this lukewarm middle ground. At 6.4 on IMDb and 55% audience score on RT, this is the definition of "your mileage may vary."

For parents: this is absolutely not for kids or young teens. The violence is extreme and constant. If you have a 17+ horror fan who loves the Alien franchise and wants to see how it all connects, this fills in some gaps. But if they haven't seen the original Alien or Prometheus, start there. This is the least essential entry in the series.

Age Fit

This is strictly adult horror, appropriate for ages 17+. The extreme violence, body horror, and graphic death scenes make it unsuitable for teens despite the philosophical themes. Even horror-tolerant 15-year-olds will find this intense.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

15

This is a horror film filled with graphic violence, body horror, chest-bursting aliens, decapitations, and characters making consistently poor decisions that get them killed in gruesome ways. The tone is bleak and nihilistic, with themes of creation gone wrong and a sociopathic android conducting genocide. Not emotionally healthy viewing for anyone under 17.

Imaginative

68

Ridley Scott's return to the Alien universe explores big questions about creation, creators, and artificial intelligence. The world-building is ambitious, connecting to Prometheus and the original Alien. The biomechanical horror design remains iconic. However, the execution is derivative of better films in the franchise, and the plot relies on characters behaving illogically to advance the horror setpieces.

Safe

8

Extremely graphic violence including chestbursters, acid burns, decapitations, people torn apart, and body horror. Characters are impaled, dissolved, and ripped open. There's a shower sex scene that ends in brutal murder. This is R-rated horror with no guardrails. Common Sense Media rates it 15+ but that's generous given the intensity of gore.

Enriching

42

The film attempts philosophical depth about creation, the relationship between creator and created, and what it means to be human versus artificial. Michael Fassbender's dual performance as David and Walter raises interesting questions about consciousness and morality. But the ideas are muddled and secondary to jump scares and gore. Mixed critical reception (65% RT) and lukewarm audience scores (55% RT, 6.4 IMDb) suggest it doesn't fully deliver on its ambitions.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Michael Fassbender delivers a compelling dual performance as two very different androids wrestling with questions of consciousness and purpose
The visual effects and creature design maintain the franchise's high bar for biomechanical horror
Explores genuinely interesting philosophical territory about creators, creation, and what happens when the created surpasses the creator
For adult sci-fi horror fans, it connects the Prometheus prequel to the original Alien timeline in ways that expand the mythology

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What to Watch For

Graphic violence is relentless: chestbursters, acid burns, people ripped apart, decapitations, and body horror that earns its R rating ten times over
A shower sex scene that transitions into brutal murder
Characters make frustratingly dumb decisions (taking off helmets on alien planets, investigating mysterious signals) that exist solely to advance the body count
The philosophical ambitions get buried under jump scares and gore, making it feel like two different movies fighting for screen time
Darker and more nihilistic than most sci-fi horror, with themes of genocide and sociopathy

Conversation Starters

"David the android believes he's superior to humans and has the right to create and destroy life. What makes someone's life valuable, and who gets to decide?"
"The crew keeps making terrible decisions that get people killed. Why do you think horror movies rely on characters doing obviously dangerous things?"
"The film asks whether artificial intelligence can have consciousness or creativity. Do you think an AI could ever be truly creative, or is it just remixing what humans have made?"
"This is a prequel that tries to explain the origins of the xenomorphs. Do you think mystery is sometimes better than explanation in stories?"

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