I’m a big fan of (nearly) all the Resident Evil video games and I probably should be ashamed about how many hours I’ve spent playing them (particularly part 4 & its remake). If you follow these pages you probably also know I think Zach Creggers’ BARBARIAN (2022) & WEAPONS (2025) are top tier when it comes to modern horror (I may have even spent most of last year obsessed with the iconic character Aunt Gladys and pretty much filled KT’s Instagram with back to back photoshopped tributes to her). All this to say I was very much looking forward to the new RESIDENT EVIL film. Cregger had kindly warned in advance that he wasn’t going to concentrate on beloved characters from the game series but would rather tell his own original survival story. Thankfully, that turned out to be a great idea because this movie delivers a purely unique vision of horror and is a contender to be my personal favorite in an unprecedented banner year for the genre (it certainly will be the film I will return to the most). This tour de force is truly something to behold; it’s sorta like DAWN OF THE DEAD meets AFTER HOURS (lead actor Austin Abrams even looks a bit like Griffin Dunne) meets THE THING (’82) & THE BLOB (’88) with a little bit of Lovecraft leaning WE LOVE KATAMARI thrown in.
Poor, put upon courier Bryan (Abrams) makes the rookie mistake of being a nice person and agrees to make one last delivery of a mysterious (and game accurate) package to a hospital in the notorious Raccoon City. He has recently heard news from his girlfriend (voiced by Cregger spouse/horror royalty Sara Paxton) that she may be pregnant so it’s likely he imagines that he’ll need some extra money in the future. Interestingly, much of the perpetual horrors he’ll soon encounter appear to be ripped directly from his psyche and grotesquely mirror his anxieties of becoming a parent, growing older, and being forced into new responsibilities. En route, a crazed woman jumps in front of his car on a dangerously snowy road and of course Bryan’s goodhearted nature is to help her. Unfortunately, as per life, his penchant for proving he’s up to the task and doing the right thing only snowball into increasingly terrifying and surreal monster strewn nightmare predicaments. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished (although usually the penalty doesn’t involve so many tentacles).
Now, when I mentioned before that I play the RESIDENT EVIL games repeatedly I sorta left out the part that my skill level is highly questionable or at least uneven. I’m not one of those sharp shooter guys that can plow through and own the game with ease. I’m more the type to freak out and get incredibly lucky once in awhile and see the closing card reading “YOU DIED” or “YOU ARE DEAD” often. Therefore, I really relate to and appreciate Cregger’s approach, he does a masterful job of putting the viewer right into the heart of the frequently exasperating events.This movie bypasses the usual heroics of previous RE adaptions (no shade to that fun series) and resembles how an ordinary person might react when faced with overwhelming situations. The result is, it’s more like actually playing a game than any other previous game based movies that I can think of; drawers are empty, weapons are scarce and the perfect shot is not guaranteed. Helping the relatability factor to the nth degree is Abram’s incredible performance as Bryan. He’s hilarious, sympathetic as hell and he’ll no doubt be remembered as one of the most lovably human characters in horror. He even has a little winter hat with sheep on it and places a seatbelt around the vulnerable parcel! Movies need more Bryans and frankly so does the world.
I am seeing it this afternoon! Going by the Alamo Drafthouse app, I may be the only ticket buyer attending this screening.
I’m not a video game person, but I really like Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil movies (I think he directed all of them except the second film).
They aren’t necessarily great at being horror movies (especially the later ones), but they are fantastic action movies. It sometimes feels like directing action scenes is a lost art (especially in dull Netflix original films). Anderson was (hopefully still is) a master of blocking and editing action scenes without ever confusing the viewer.
[SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS if you don't want spoilers stop reading now] I really, really liked this movie. I thought Austin Abrams was perfect as the lead (I hadn't considered the comparison to After Hours and Griffin Dunn, but it is right on!). The balance of horror, humor, Lovecraftian grotesquerie and video game tropes (the occasional first-person p.o.v. shots were perfect) made for a great time at the theater. The rotating ensemble of hideous monsters mirroring our protagonist's deepest fears about adulting was a really clever way of elevating the material. I even loved the side characters who were taken out almost as soon as they were introduced to us, with not a scrap of the plot armor usually reserved for pets, little children, and military bad-asses (at least in movies, maybe not in the games…). The potential for repeated viewings seemed very high indeed.
Unfortunately (disappointingly, devastatingly) R.E. totally lost me with its ending. I know, I know! How else could it have possibly ended? It was never going to be sunshine and rainbows. The minute he got his arm chomped, I knew things were not going to end great for Bryan. But (and I find this more to be the case the older I get)- if I'm going to be put through the gauntlet from hell alongside our (very likable) protagonist, and watch him evolve as a person and experience a whole-ass character arc, I really, really need for there to be some meaning behind the suffering. Maybe ten or so years ago my feelings toward the movie would have been different. Yes, maybe I have become a total sentimental wuss. After all, the movie, including its downer ending, earned my teenage son's enthusiastic stamp of approval. But I just can't enjoy an ending that negates everything that came before it. I'm too old and too stressed-out. I can get behind a heroic sacrifice that ends the main character's story BUT potentially does some good overall. I couldn't do the weird slapstick body-horror burlesque show that made everything that came before it pointless. It really felt like the creators backed themselves into a corner, got bored with the story and thought, "Just turn him into a monster or whatever." Bryan deserved better, and so did we, dammit.
SDC,
I too love the OG RE series ! It really doesn’t get enough respect for being the biggest female lead action series worldwide of all time! Milla is just the greatest and Anderson does a nice job delivering on the scares as well as the action. That first movie when the virus kills all the workers underground freaked me out so bad . It was so soon after 9/11 and really hit hard. I think every installment had its own personality in a way. I also really dig the recent RE: WELCOME TO RACOON CITY as well. I like the nods to the game series but I’m not much of a stickler when they play a little loose. Hope u enjoy the new one!
LiviaB, (spoilers)
I agree with every single word of what you said! Thank you for highlighting a few things I didn’t You have a great way with words. I too, felt that horrible feeling at the end because Bryan deserved so much better after his heroic journey but another part of me appreciated that it was brave to go there. I think it also implies that ALL the monsters had previous lives we’ll never know about and deserved a better fate. So it could be seen as sort of a monster origin story. I’ll also add that from the game series, his fate isn’t sealed he could still get the antidote shot and go back to normal. Sounds crazy but it does happen in the game. Another thought I had to make me feel better was that maybe Bryan will enjoy being a monster! It might be liberating!
Unk-
(SPOILERS CONT'D) It's a valid point that all muties and monsters were Everyday Joe's once… and if Bryan was going to be a monster, I did appreciate that he got to basically be King Monster. That was kind of nice for him.
I just read a fan theory noting that Bryan single-handedly set up a lot of typical game scenarios for the ACTUAL main character of the "real" story to find (guns and keys left in random places, a rat monster chilling in the sewer), and probably even incited the game-cannon missile strike of the city- I thought that was a cool idea that gave his life (and afterlife) a little more meaning.
Even so, I still prefer the Zach Cregger movies with happy endings. You know, like the one where the witch gets torn limb from limb by little children on somebody's suburban front lawn. Real feel-good stuff.
Postscript- Even though I'm still not totally happy with the downer ending, I wouldn't want Bryan to get the antidote. He literally ate and/or fused with, like, a LOT of people. There's no coming back from that.