Life Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs

2. It's Not Particularly Original

The Alien comparisons are not at all unfounded, with large portions of Life essentially playing out as an extended homage to the sci-fi classic.

It's a pretty damn entertaining homage, in fairness, but those hoping for an original sci-fi horror flick may find themselves a little underwhelmed at how most of the big narrative beats are incredibly familiar, lifting from Alien and a litany of other entries into the genre.

It deviates more from the established formula in its third act, but the build towards the finale walks a fine line between being a love letter and straight-up plagiarising. If you go in knowing this, though, it's a lot easier to tolerate, and it by no means sinks the film overall.