“Resident Evil” is a franchise that spans multiple mediums, with the original game, released in 1996 for the Sony PlayStation, being the first of its long list of video games and spin-offs.
Several people would likely recall the name from Paul W.S. Anderson’s forgettably cliché but cult classic (solely for its connection to the games) 2002 film aptly named “Resident Evil,” and its seemingly endless barrage of sequels.
Netflix also released its own adaptation in 2022 that critics panned, but some liked. It seemed that while the games were only getting better and improving upon themselves, the live-action adaptations would always fall short.
Enter Zach Cregger, known mostly for writing and directing the horror films “Barbarian” and “Weapons,” and also a founding member of the shortly lived but fondly remembered sketch series “The Whitest Kids You Know.”
He is also an avid fan of the games and did, for the most part, translate the “Resident Evil” game experience into an entire film. The film focuses on a would-be nobody, or a cheap pawn who unknowingly is the only person able to stop the deadly disasters that would soon turn his next few hours into a living hell.
Bryan, who the brilliant and talented Austin Abrams played, brings an incredible performance that carries the movie forward. Abrams was so dedicated to the role that he was doing a lot of the stunt work himself. He even did a stunt that apparently could’ve killed him if he was one step too far from the right, describing it as ‘harrowing’ in an interview with Deadline.
Abrams plays young medical courier Bryan, an everyman whose fear of losing his relationship somehow turns into a rush against time to stop what could potentially be the destruction of everything.
The film plays out entirely from his perspective, as you never leave his side once, immersing you in the world to great effect, every step of the way. You gel with everything he’s feeling and you can relate to his inability to survive to a humorous extent. He uses self-deprecating jokes as a therapeutic crutch and an act-first, think-later survival tactic to narrowly escape his nightmarish surroundings.
Like the games, the camera is always trying to go back to a position behind his shoulder or a perspective from Bryan’s own eyes to really immerse you in the hellish environment. Cregger admitted in an interview with Vanity Fair that he constantly wanted to return to these two angles as his primary shots.
Chaos is amidst, and the horror, while gross and unsettling, doesn’t feel that scary. Instead, I noticed more laughter as Creggers’ comedic talent shines here, similar to 2025’s “Weapons,” in the theater than an actual vibe of fear.
The film does not set out to be a story about a powerless individual running from a threat or a commando-type character gunning down zombies. Rather, it feels like you’re watching someone attempt to be that commando and doing a D-average job. This shows up in some of Bryan’s ‘Schwarzenegger-esque’ one-liners, where he just cusses out whatever monster and feels awkward and comedically anticlimactic.
Bryan can feel one-note sometimes, but in the film’s tightly packed hour-and-thirty-minute runtime, there isn’t much time to explore him as a character. There are a handful of scenes where he stops the one-man show and interacts with the few other characters in the movie, but those characters themselves are only there to be fodder to use as shock value or exposition.
The most divisive part of this film has to be the ending, which feels more like an exhausted director abandoning ship and leaving things open for interpretation.
Overall, the film is a subversive take on the survival horror genre by presenting a comedic gorefest of uncaring attitudes and horror through the eyes of its self-described “glorified post-mates driver” protagonist. However, die-hard fans of the franchise wanted a more faithful interpretation featuring the iconic characters from the games, making the film controversial upon announcement.
Cregger, not realizing a faithful adaptation was what fans were dying for, apologized. Instead, he made a movie that he wanted to make, and fans will notice it does differ quite a bit from its source material.
Despite the backlash from some, the film is on track to be the highest-grossing “Resident Evil” film to date and the highest-rated, currently with a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.
So while the film may not be a direct adaptation, the movie definitely feels like a love letter. Scenes like Bryan searching a house for bullets, panicking while trying to reload his gun or a running gag involving awful aim and padlocks feel like a direct homage to your average experience playing a “Resident Evil” game.
Cregger, in an interview with Dead Meat, called the experience of playing the game and utilizing these aspects of survival horror to be the core of the movie.
“That just makes the movie better,” Cregger said.
Prepare to be punched in the face if you plan on seeing “Resident Evil” this weekend, but it will definitely keep you talking afterwards and wanting more from the evil.
