Alien: Earth, FX’s bold new chapter in the iconic Alien franchise, dares to bring the nightmare home, literally. Created by Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley, this eight-episode prequel moves the franchise’s deep-space terror to a dystopian Earth, with astonishing results.
Set in the year 2120, decades before Ellen Ripley’s fateful encounter with the Xenomorph, the series follows Wendy (Sydney Chandler), a young consciousness implanted in an adult hybrid body, as she investigates the crash of a Weyland-Yutani research vessel. What begins as a mystery slowly mutates into a cerebral horror show involving new alien lifeforms, corporate conspiracies, and disturbing questions about identity and personhood.
What the reviews are saying
Critics widely agree that Alien: Earth is the most compelling entry in the series since James Cameron’s Aliens (1986).
The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast calls it “the franchise’s best addition in years,” praising its blend of philosophical depth and grotesque body horror. Nick Schager writes that the show “succeeds at both homage and innovation,” pointing to its original monster designs, including the chilling, sentient “Eye”, and meditations on synthetic life.
Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson commends Hawley’s visual tone, “The episodes are full of finely lacquered pictures that ominously cross-fade like curdling dreams.” The show is scored by Jeff Russo, whose haunting compositions complement the show’s eerie and emotionally fraught atmosphere.
IGN
IGN, in a glowing review, declares Alien: Earth “an evolution as slick and scary as every good little Xenomorph should be,” and applauds the series for capturing the primal fear that made the franchise famous, while layering in contemporary themes of corporate greed and digital immortality.
The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han describes the series as “a heady, sprawling, occasionally unwieldy but eventually thrilling epic about personhood, hubris, and, of course, the primal pleasure of watching people get absolutely rocked by space monsters.” Han notes the show’s thematic ambition, especially in its exploration of consciousness, artificial life, and the commodification of human identity.
Central to that theme is Wendy, portrayed with haunting vulnerability by Chandler. Alongside Timothy Olyphant’s enigmatic android Kirsh and Babou Ceesay’s morally conflicted scientist, the cast grounds the sci-fi world in human emotion,
Rotten Tomatoes
On Rotten Tomatoes, Alien: Earth currently holds a 90 percent Certified Fresh score, with an 84/100 rating on Metacritic. Critics and fans alike have praised the production value, writing, performances, and inventive horror sequences.
Still, some reviewers caution the series may not appeal to everyone. SlashFilm rated it a lukewarm 5/10, citing its slow pacing and overdependence on franchise nostalgia. And while Alien: Earth succeeds as a reboot, some subplots, particularly involving the “Lost Boys,” children trapped in adult synthetic bodies, remain underdeveloped by the finale.
For longtime fans of Alien, Hawley’s Earth-bound vision offers something rare, a prequel that expands the universe while deepening its lore. For newcomers, it’s a thought-provoking horror drama with rich characters, slow-burning tension, and visuals worthy of the big screen.
