Time: 94 Minutes
Age Rating: R16 – Graphic violence, gore & offensive language
Cast:
Austin Abrams as Bryan
Zach Cherry as Carl
Kali Reis as Maxine
Paul Walter Hauser as Paul
Director: Zach Cregger

Resident Evil was one of my most anticipated movies of 2026. I am a big fan of the Resident Evil game series, and I really liked Zach Cregger’s work on Barbarian and Weapons, so I was curious to see his take on adapting the games. There have been previous adaptations, from the Milla Jovovich led films which were straight up action movies that sprinkled elements of the game while doing its own thing, to Welcome to Raccoon City which boldly attempted to adapt both the first two Resident Evil games to mixed results. Cregger’s movie however looks like it was aiming to be its own thing, not featuring any familiar characters or story elements outside of setting it in Raccoon City during the zombie outbreak, while also focussing on being a horror movie and leaning into the survival horror aspects. I really liked it, and I would consider it to be easily the best video game movie yet.

The movie has a very simple premise and is told in a short runtime of approximately 90 minutes. It really benefits from the tighter focus, and is generally paced very well. It doesn’t aim to be super close to the games, and is doing its own thing. The protagonist has to travel to Raccoon City, there are zombies, the Umbrella Corporation is a thing, and any other remaining references to the series are easter eggs like typewriters in the background. Honestly, I appreciated the restraint and that they didn’t feel the need to shove in a Leon Kennedy nod or anything similar. There are aspects of the plot and its take on Raccoon City that don’t line up with the events with the games, but I don’t have an issue with that. I think beyond all else, Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil does great at replicating the Resident Evil experience, or at the very least the experience of watching an inexperienced person playing Resident Evil for the first time. This is seen in the things that protagonist Bryan has to do like resource gathering, finding keys, and having to use a gun and missing almost all the shots. It definitely works as a horror movie removed from the video games, but if you are familiar with Resident Evil or horror games in general, there’s a lot that you can have fun with here. It’s a source of some of the best humour of the movie, especially with the absurdity of the mechanics. It excellently adapts the actual gameplay mechanics in the way most video game adaptations don’t, save for Amazon’s Fallout series.

Like in Cregger’s past movies, Resident Evil blends horror and comedy. Of course there’s the aforementioned video game mechanics jokes, but it also benefits from a mean streak and unrelenting approach especially with its protagonist, its a bit like Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead movies at times. Oftentimes, Bryan failing or the situations that he finds himself in generates a lot of the humour, especially in his reactions.  However, I do think that there are some problems with the tone, Zach Cregger hasn’t balanced it as well as he did with Barbarian and Weapons. For one, some jokes just straight up missed and leaned into being a bit too quirky for my liking. The jokes about protagonist Bryan being a gamer were a complete miss for me. But I also think that some of the attempted sincerity and genuine horror is unfortunately offset by the humour, especially in the second half. Resident Evil surprisingly has an emotional core, with Bryan’s girlfriend being pregnant and him not ready to be a father. Enough work is done on this subplot and it works with the themes of the movie throughout that it doesn’t necessarily feel tact on. However, I think perhaps with a slightly longer runtime and better focus, it could’ve been handled better. The second half is a step down from the first half, as other human characters are brought in, exposition dumps occur, and it concludes with a rushed third act (which also probably could’ve gone larger than it did). Still, I was enjoying things all the way through to the end. The part that will be most divisive to audiences is the ending, and I admit that I have some mixed feelings about it. I’ll do my best not to give too much away, though it may be best to skip over the rest of this paragraph if you want to go in completely blind. On one hand, I’m not sure it works the best as a classic Resident Evil ending, and the only reason why I’m only thinking about it not being a ‘classic Resident Evil ending’ is because of how well Cregger replicated the experience of playing the games. It works better outside of that, but even then it has its own issues. It is tonally conflicted, some cartoonish elements really deflected from the intended emotion, and if there was a time where all the humour should’ve been completely cut from a scene, it was for this ending.

Austin Abrams is fantastic as Bryan, carrying this entire movie with him being in every scene. His character is definitely not the smartest and he keeps falling into unfortunate situations often due to his own incompetence, and he’s funny for it, especially for his reactions and line deliveries. At the same time, he’s likable enough and you’re rooting for him throughout. The rest of the cast play their parts as written though I’m a little mixed on them. The few supporting characters were written to be a little too cartoonish for my liking.

Zach Cregger’s direction is top notch. It’s beautifully shot; the movie is entirely set at night time, but never looks murky. It’s probably Cregger’s best looking movie yet. I love the snowy look, I don’t even care if it wasn’t winter during the Raccoon City outbreak in the games. I loved the camerawork, especially during the chase sequences. The movie makes use of classic video game third person and first person perspectives, and I appreciated that it didn’t take the cheap tactic of just suddenly having a jumpscare during the first person shots. I never felt especially terrified, but the jump scares are nonetheless very effective and don’t feel cheap. While it wasn’t scary for me, it does well at building up a dread filled atmosphere, especially whenever Bryan enters into a new location. The effects and makeup on the monsters and zombies are outstanding, and the gore is satisfying. Almost all of the designs are completely original and unique from the games. The film also accompanied by a great and fitting horror score from Hays Holladay and Ryan Holladay.

Resident Evil is a simple yet entertaining, funny, relentless, and engaging horror thriller, wonderfully directed and led by a committed lead performance from Austin Abrams.