Phobos (short film)

Phobos
Cast & Crew
Directed by	Toby Dye
Produced by	John Logan Toby Dye
Starring	Michael Fassbender Katherine Waterston Danny McBride Billy Crudup Demián Bichir
Release Information
Release date(s)	August 15, 2017
Production comapnies	20th Century Fox
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Running time	9 minutes
Country of Origin	United States of America
Chronology
Preceded by	She Won't Go Quietly
Followed by	Advent

Phobos is a 2017 short film co-written and directed by Toby Dye and starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride, Billy Crudup and Demián Bichir. Created as part of the viral marketing campaign for 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

• Walter .... Michael Fassbender
• Daniels .... Katherine Waterston
• Tennessee .... Danny McBride
• Oram .... Billy Crudup
• Lopé .... Demián Bichir
• Rosenthal .... Tess Haubrich
• Hallett .... Nathaniel Dean
• Phobos .... Björn Hlynur Haraldsson
• Technician ... Geeves O'Shea

Release

A shortened, teaser version of the video was released on July 19, 2017 through YouTube, to promote Alien: Covenant's then-imminent home video release. The full video was included on the Alien: Covenant Blu-ray.

Trivia

• In the film, Hallett 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.