While it is generally engaging to learn about the influences of the screenwriter Dan O'Bannon or the artistic process of H.R. Giger (who designed the alien), the documentary is at its least fawning when it focuses on technique.

This much I can promise: after seeing this documentary you'll never look at Alien the same way again.

It has a complex and rigorously argued set of theses that all come together at the end.

Alien is a gift that keeps on giving, and Memory: The Origins of Alien unwraps so many colorfully wrapped boxes of various shapes and sizes.