Sightlines · reception
How Alien: Covenant was received
2017 · Ridley Scott · Alien: Covenant on Sightlines
The arc
Landed in 2017 to a genuine split — critics shrugged, the box office underwhelmed, and the planned sequel quietly died. Since then it's picked up a vocal defender class who argue Scott's android-Gothic prequel era was more interesting than anyone admitted at the time.
What’s debated
The eternal Covenant fight: is this a misunderstood auteur horror film about creation, or the movie that killed the Alien franchise by giving fans a philosophy lecture when they asked for a monster?
Its footprint
The flute lesson between two Michael Fassbenders — 'watch me, I'll do the fingering' — instantly escaped the film and lives on as one of the internet's favorite unintentionally(?) funny scenes; Fassbender's David remains the prequels' meme engine.
Where it stands
The divisive middle child of the Alien saga — routinely ranked near the bottom by casual fans and passionately defended in 'actually, Covenant is good' posts, which is exactly what keeps it alive.
Did you know? The film was originally announced in 2015 under the title Alien: Paradise Lost — a nod to Milton — before Ridley Scott retitled it Alien: Covenant.