Fiction & Philosophy – The Meaning Of The Film Alien: Covenant (2017).”Stranger. The Testament is the sixth installment in the legendary Alien series and a direct sequel to the movie Prometheus. Ridley Scott, with his characteristic skill, revived one of the most famous MCUs. A colorful fantasy component, monsters made incredibly realistic, and fascinating plot intricacies – the mesmerizing aesthetics of horror films and a unique opportunity to find out how the Aliens appeared.
About what
Ten years have passed since the events of Prometheus. The ship “Covenant”, with the colonists on board, is heading to the habitable planet Origai-6. Due to a neutron flash, the electronic systems fail, and the android Walter takes the crew out of cryosleep, but does not have time to pull the captain out of the capsule, and he burns out. Daniels, the captain’s wife, is very upset by the loss, but pulls herself together and promises in memory of her husband to fulfill his dream – to build and equip a house on the lake.
The post of captain of the ship is occupied by Oram – a believer, prone to mythological thinking. He perceives an accidentally caught signal from an unknown planet as a sign sent from above, because computer data says that its atmosphere and biosphere are more suitable for life than on Origai-6. Daniels opposes the change of course, but no one listens to her, the crew members want to set foot on solid ground as soon as possible, and the prospect of a long flight does not inspire them.
Having landed on the planet, the team notes that the flora is very similar to the earth, the area looks inhabited, the presence of an intelligent being is felt, but Daniels is worried about one oddity – absolute silence. There are no birds or animals. In the course of research, two crew members become infected with strange spores, but do not notice this until it’s too late – terrible monsters grow in their bodies and, literally breaking their way out, attack the others. A bloodbath begins.
Explanation of meaning
Ridley Scott with high professionalism wove scenes in his picture that are both deeply philosophical and frightening to shiver. It turned out to be a unique combination of reflections on the meaning of life and terrible atmospheric battles.
The Creator and the fruit of his labors
The film opens with the android David talking to Peter Weiland, the head of the largest technology corporation. The conversation begins with a discussion about service, but ends with David’s unexpected conclusion – despite all the achievements, humanity still has not figured out how and why it appeared. This gives rise to the main conflict of the film – the creation rebels and opposes the demiurge, realizes itself as an independent being and itself wants to become a creator, to comprehend the mystery of creation.
A direct parallel with the fall of Lucifer, who was the first, wanting to become equal to God and gain access to forbidden knowledge, went against the established rules and turned from the most beautiful angel, protector and warrior, into a terrifying creature, aimed only at evil and seducing innocent souls.
Creativity knows no boundaries
Any person is limited by moral and ethical standards – even the one who vehemently denies it, trying to seem independent. Growing up and gaining experience in society, actively contacting other people, he constantly finds himself under the influence of society and imperceptibly changes and adapts to himself, accepts the rules of the game and corrects behavior, therefore all his creative manifestations are also formed within certain boundaries.
Android David symbolizes not ruthless evil with a chilling goal of destroying every living creature that gets in his way, but creativity that has gone beyond the usual limits so far that it turned into a real genocide.
The Horror of Immortality and Two Sides of the Same Coin
Life is beautiful because it will eventually end. Of course, death has always inspired fear in mankind, but the awareness of the limitations of time allows you to enjoy even fleeting happy moments. Looking ahead and seeing infinity is much scarier than seeing the finish line somewhere far ahead. Immortality brings boredom and unties hands, allows you to feel special.
But this does not negate the personal reaction. How a creature – a person or an android – decides to act, weighing the pros and cons, because the main thing for a creature with a mind is not to live blindly obeying desires, but to consciously plan its own destiny. David and Walter take a different approach – one of them was turned into a monster by immortality, while the other retained his humanity, despite the fact that he was in fact a machine.
How did it end
The Covenant team finds out that a ship landed on the planet of the Creators with the only surviving person from the Prometheus expedition – Elizabeth Shaw – and the android David on board, the latter created a deadly pathogen during the flight, which subsequently killed the entire population. In the battle with xenomorphs, the entire crew dies, only Daniels is saved, assisted by Walter. Together, they defeat David and continue on to Origai 6, but at the very last moment before falling into suspended animation, Daniels realizes that it was not Walter who boarded the Covenant. And such an ending is a reference to the endless battle between good and evil, when from time to time one wins, then the other.
