A franchise that needed saving

The 2021 Resident Evil reboot flopped with critics and audiences, grossing just 42 million dollars globally. A Netflix series was canceled after one season. The franchise was in trouble.

Enter Zach Cregger

Director Zach Cregger, fresh off the success of Weapons, took on the project as a huge fan of the games, especially Resident Evil 2. He had never seen the original films.

A new approach to adaptation

Cregger created an original story with original characters set in the Resident Evil universe, rather than directly adapting the games. He promised no time jumps or disorienting chapter breaks.

“"locked in with a protagonist on a foot journey through a world hell-bent on destroying them."”

Meet Bryan, the everyman courier

The protagonist is Bryan, a young medical courier played by Austin Abrams. He's just learned his girlfriend is pregnant when he accepts one last delivery run to Raccoon City.

Everything goes wrong immediately

While driving through heavy snow, Bryan hits a woman who stumbles into the road. She's infected with the T-virus, but he doesn't know it. The local sheriff agrees to help transport her to the hospital.

Abrams carries the entire film

With a small cast and single protagonist, everything depends on Abrams' performance. He navigates conflicting emotions from awkward humor to sheer panic with an expressive face that never falters.

Tight pacing and smart scares

Cregger's direction is exceptionally well-crafted. The narrative is simple but paced tightly, with effective jump scares that never feel overused. He incorporates third-person gameplay perspectives without making them feel gimmicky.

Humor balances the horror

Wry humor throughout keeps the film from getting too grim, often from Bryan's cluelessness and lack of skills. Cregger removed most jokes from his first cut after test audiences found it too funny.

“"A little bit of humor goes a long way in a horror movie, and there's not a single joke I took out of this movie that I miss."”

Mutant monsters steal the show

Zombies are surprisingly not the main focus. Instead, the film features grotesque mutant creatures, including a hybrid zombie that grows larger as it incorporates more bodies while chasing Bryan.

Body horror cranked to eleven

The gore factor is extreme, with jaw-dropping moments throughout, including a particularly disturbing maternity ward scene. Yet Cregger makes it simultaneously horrifying, funny, and bittersweet.

Finally cracking the code

Adapting games to film has proven formidable until now. Cregger's approach of creating original stories in the game's universe rather than directly adapting existing characters finally works.