Dec 27th, 2025
“What is our purpose?”
One thing that I like about Ridley Scott’s films is the panoramic views that always captivate the watcher’s eye. That was exactly what I felt when watching Prometheus for the first time. Like… how can someone create landscapes this beautiful? It’s just out of this world.
Another storyline from Alien (1979), Prometheus gives us yet another narrative about how we come to know our beloved creature, the “Xenomorph.” In the opening scene, we are introduced to an Engineer (at least that’s what they call it in the film) who drinks something that eventually leads to his doom, while watching his mothership leave him behind. Call it sacrifice if you will, but until now, I still doubt what the actual purpose of doing so was.
In the next scene, we are brought to a distant future on Earth, year 2089. A group of researchers discover a 35,000-year-old painting in a cave that they believe is a coordinate somewhere in space—one that could lead them to their makers, the Engineers. This, ladies and gentlemen, is basically the whole point of the film: where do we come from?
Next thing we know, we’re shown a spaceship carrying a bunch of people led by the researcher who found the map from the cave. The crew consists of scientists with their own expertise, and of course, investors, if you’re familiar with the franchise, you know who: the Weyland Corporation. They’re headed to the coordinates found in the cave, and here’s the fun part: some of the crew only find out what the mission actually is after they arrive!? The goal is to answer these questions: “What is our purpose?” and “What happens when we die?” Which I find kind of ridiculous. Like… why? You don’t know what you’re signing up for? But does it make me hate the film? Are you kidding? I love this film so much. You bet!
Apparently, as with every film in this franchise, every ship includes an android. A human-like robot. We are introduced to a very interesting character played by Michael Fassbender. Created to be more human, intelligent, curious, and apparently capable of independent thought, David is an android who assists the expedition, speaking with an accent inspired by Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia… that’s what it sounds like to me.
This character, personally, is fascinating and gives promise to a continuing narrative, which they did explore later in Alien: Covenant.
As the crew approaches their destination, they try to send a transmission in case anyone is home. No response. Still, they land anyway. The ship touches down near a massive dome-like structure. Gosh. The landing scene is mesmerizing… you have to see it on a big screen.
The crew starts exploring the place and discovers the corpse of an Engineer, decapitated by a door. Curious (and maybe a bit too confident), they bring the head back to the ship to examine its DNA. Turns out… it matches theirs. So there you go. Confirmation: the Engineers made us.
After that discovery, everything just goes downhill, fast. The crew begins exploring deeper inside the structure and finds strange black liquid stored in containers. The snake like creature. Of course, nobody thinks, “Hey, maybe don’t touch that.” Some get lost, some panic, and some decide this is a great time to remove their helmets (another classic horror move).
Meanwhile, David, being David, secretly takes interest in the black substance and starts experimenting with it—on humans. This leads to infections, mutations, unexpected pregnancies (yes, that kind), and creatures that are very much not friendly.
Things escalate when they realize the Engineers weren’t welcoming guests waiting to answer life’s big questions. Instead, this place was more like a military installation, a storage facility for biological weapons meant to wipe out entire species. Including us. Eventually, an Engineer is awakened, but instead of giving answers or hugs, he goes straight into destruction mode. The crew learn, too late, that the Engineers planned to erase humanity, and whatever went wrong stopped them… until now.
By the end, most of the crew is dead, the mission is a disaster, and the remaining survivors are left with more questions than answers. One of them even decides to go looking for the Engineers’ real home, because apparently curiosity never dies… even when common sense should.
Here’s the interesting thing about this film
- The film is centered around a billion questions: “Where do we come from?”, “What is our purpose?”, “What happens when we die?” and what’s wild is that the characters are willing to seek these answers relying solely on a collection of ancient cave paintings and archaeological remains. Based on that map alone, they travel across space to meet their supposed makers. Bold. Questionable. Slightly insane. Very human.
- Peter Weyland, the employer behind this expedition, is modern yet deeply superstitious, willing to do anything to defeat death and eager to find this so-called “magic pill,” which is why he secretly joins the expedition himself. He is the mastermind behind the creation of David.
- The place they believed to be the Engineers’ home is not a home at all. It’s a storage facility for pathogens designed to destroy and infect organic beings.
- While the researchers are busy trying to understand the Engineers and their purpose, David is already developing his own way of thinking. He experiments with what he finds, because… mind you, he was created to look like us and think like us.
So while humans create David, David also wants to create. And that’s what makes him kind of the villain in this film. But in my defence, he was designed to be one. To me, humans in this film are careless in what they create, just as the Engineers were careless with us. They create life, but fail to take responsibility for what that creation might eventually become. Humans create David without fully considering the consequences. David, in turn, creates something of his own. Different scale.
So, that’s the irony.
The Engineers created humans, then tried to destroy them. Humans created David, and David tried to create another species, playing God, with the Xenomorph as the result.
The reason the Engineers tried to wipe us out might actually be simple: eventually, we would think for ourselves. Like gods. And that would make us dangerous.
Just like humans might one day realize, too late, what happens when we create something that can think beyond us.
It’s a circle. A pattern. A loop of ego, curiosity, and emptiness.
And for the questions raised at the beginning of this writing? Well… probably nothing. We’re just products of ego and curiosity. Why bother feeling disappointed? At least, that’s how this story leaves us.
By the way, the cast was awesome. Totally worth the time, and definitely one of those sci-fi films you should watch at least once. So… a wandering monologue, haunted by questions that still linger.
Wandering Monologues 