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Fede Álvarez, the director of the hit sci-fi prequel Alien: Romulus, has revealed that he was banned from social media platform Reddit after being accused of “impersonating” himself.
The filmmaker briefly joined a subreddit forum dedicated to discussing the Alien films, in order to interact with fans of the movie.
However, moderators flagged his account for supposedly lying about his identity, and he received a notification informing him that he was “permanently banned” from the subreddit.
“Got banned from the ALIEN subreddit for apparently trying to impersonate, myself,” Álvarez wrote on X/Twitter, alongside a laughing emoji and a screenshot of the message he was sent.
A moderator subsequently revealed that the director had been “immediately reinstated and had a very friendly conversation with us”, describing him as an “awesome guy”.
“I’m sorry, just found it hilarious,” Álvarez told him in a message. “My bad. Not harm done. Thanks again for such great work moderating my favorite subreddit.”
Before his initial removal from the forum, the filmmaker had confirmed a fan’s theory about two of the characters in the recently released film.
Spoilers follow for Alien: Romulus...
The scene in question concerns spacefarers Bjorn (Spike Fearn) and Kay (Isabela Merced).
“Right before Bjorn’s death, he and Kay share a moment where they touch each other in a very intimate way. Am I the only one who thought this was a sign that Bjorn is the ‘jerk’ who got her pregnant?” asked one Reddit user.
Álvarez replied: “Yes he is. Good catch!”
In a three-star review of the film, The Independent’s critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote: “Alien: Romulus has the capacity for greatness. If you could somehow surgically extract its strongest sequences, you’d see that beautiful, blood-quivering harmony between old-school practical effects and modern horror verve, still gooey and repulsive in all the ways an Alien film should be.
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“At one point, the camera watches, unflinching, as a phallic Xenomorph crown breaches the opening of an aggressively vaginal fluid sac. Perfect. Yet there’s an uncomfortable, ‘canary in the coal mine’ aura to what Romulus signals about Hollywood’s near future. Now, even smart movies have to clock in their hours as brand ambassadors and nostalgia vehicles.”
Alien: Romulus is out in cinemas now.
