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Xenopedia

Phobos is a 2017 short film co-written and directed by Toby Dye[1] and starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride and Billy Crudup. Created exclusively for the home video release of Alien: Covenant, the film depicts several members of the USCSS Covenant crew undergoing psychological evaluation at a Weyland-Yutani testing facility ahead of their mission.

Plot[]

At a Weyland-Yutani facility on Phobos, several members of the crew for the upcoming Covenant colony mission are subjected to psychological tests to evaluate their suitability for the expedition. The crewmembers are strapped into a chair in the testing booth, after which they are left alone and questioned by a computer as to their feelings about their planned mission, their strengths and their fears. During questioning, they are subjected to unexpected shocks in the form of small pyrotechnic charges detonated within the booth. After the initial round of questions, the computer puts them through a round of word association. Throughout the examination, their responses are monitored by a Weyland-Yutani technician in an adjacent observation booth.

Finally, the restrained crewmembers are ordered to watch a series of distressing video clips, including graphic violence and mutilation, and rate the degree to which the footage makes them feel afraid or uncomfortable. Crew reactions vary — Tennessee is greatly disturbed, Rosie is brought to tears, Daniels, Oram and Lopé are largely unmoved, while Walter is completely devoid of emotion.

Cast[]

Release[]

A shortened, teaser version of the video was released on July 19, 2017 through YouTube,[2] to promote Alien: Covenant's then-imminent home video release. The full video was subsequently included as a bonus feature on the Alien: Covenant DVD and Blu-ray.

Trivia[]

  • In the film, Hallet points out, "Something burrowing into my body would... unnerve me." In Alien: Covenant, he is killed by a Bloodburster that tears its way out of his throat.

References[]

  1. John Logan (writer), Toby Dye (director). Phobos (2017), 20th Century Fox [Blu-ray].
  2. "YouTube - Phobos: An "Alien: Covenant" Story Sneak Peek — 20th Century FOX". Retrieved on 2019-04-27.


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