Resident Evil (2026) | Film Review
"You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck!" - Resident Evil (1998), save-file load text.
Twenty-four years after the first live action debut, here we are again with another Resident Evil title, the eighth live action feature film (excluding the animated films and abysmal Netflix series). This time around, the feature is helmed by Barbarian (2022) & Weapons (2025) director, and self-proclaimed Resident Evil game fan, Zach Cregger.
Sidebar: I consider myself a fan of survival horror PS1 games, from Clock Tower (Kono, 1996) to Parasite Eve (Tokita, 1998). One such series, being Resident Evil (1996 - 2026), having played and enjoyed many of the mainline titles, as well as the spin-offs / one-shots over the years. I'm a 1996 OG (remind me never to refer to myself as that again), experiencing the original PS1 release vicariously through a family member, before attempting it myself at a far too young age.
Now that I've demonstrated my fandom with sources from, Trust-me-bro and Believe-me, let's Press Any Key to begin!
The trailers gave a certain level of hope that, someone familiar with the source material would be behind the scenes for this instalment to the ever-growing pantheon of Resident Evil media. The subtle hints to familiar items e.g. typewriter, healing items in the form of sprays and herbs, the survival horror aesthetic and general style gave a modicum of hope for the hopeless (me).
I felt this way for Return to Silent Hill (Gans, 2026) and we all know how that went... read the RANTview here.
The film definitely delivered on expectations of the familiar, retaining a simple story and restricted to a grounded A-B narrative whereby a protagonist - Bryan (Austin Abrams) - is thrown into 'a nightmare', with a single objective - to reach a specific destination. Of course, this would inevitably lead to a laboratory, as do most early instalments to the game series.
Abrams manages to retain attention throughout, showcasing the ability to portray both comedic and broken-down dynamics of the character, whilst grounding much of the films absurder elements more akin to the games. Which is fortunate, considering much of the supporting cast of characters are non-existent or, if present, irritably annoying.
Almost every character feels like they were written for a singular individual, as they all display the same personalities, quirks and quips as Bryan, creating a considerable lack of identity. This is incredibly notable during the middle of the film, whereby an annoyingly drawn out expository back & forth - between Bryan, and Paul (Paul Walter Hauser) - is vomited at the audience, and later within the labs near the end. Despite the impending mortal peril, fear, or agony, the characters - including a laboratory personnel member, Carl, played by Zach Cherry - still manage to throw out ridiculously obnoxious, ludicrously stupid and generally idiotic comedic lines of dialogue, rendering their existence to be nothing more than a joke.
This is despite Cregger previously announcing, that he'd stripped back on the jokes due to test audience feedback, specifying the film was "too funny". The comedy in general didn't work for me - I'm a sour-puss when it comes to humour in horror films regardless of campiness.
If I were to restructure it to work more efficiently (by my standard - which means nothing. I'm not Spielberg, or Scorcese), I'd have gradually reduced the number of jokes / quips from the film, including from Bryan, as the situation continued to degrade through his journey. This would have helped develop Byran's portrayal from the wise-cracking, lacking in agency, type of character from the beginning of the film, to a more visibly petrified and more self-aware character by the films close, without sacrificing the campiness of the overall product.
Austin Abrams & Zach Cregger behind the scenes of Resident Evil
The film certainly owns the campiness and outlandishness accustom to the earlier instalments to the the game series, whilst also delivering on some genuine atmospheric moments. One such moment finds Bryan searching for resources in a farmhouse whilst a female farmer runs toward the building - as seen in the trailer. The slow building of tension as we see her arrive and hear her movement around the house, searching for Bryan, pulsates as we're then treated to a complete misdirect and genuinely refreshing jumpscare.
Now, I'm not one for utilising jumpscares to give cheap thrills, but the scene achieves a level of anticipation and unexpected pay-off most modern horror films seem to completely fuck up. It gives enough dedication to the build, as it does to the misdirect to deliver the scare. The blocking of an open doorway behind Bryan, shrouded in soft focus guides the viewer to focus primarily on the character and not on the incoming stinger.
The horror centric acumen continues with - what I consider to be - both the best aspect, and the most faithful connection the Resident Evil game series. The linear location(s) and the constant feeling of claustrophobia.
The entire film feels like its encapsulated inside a snowglobe, with each set-piece and location feeling connected by a linear corridor. The framing throughout is enough to give off a feeling of enclosure, as seen with trees on the road near the beginning of Bryan's journey, to the Hospital's nightmarish wards.
Feeling more akin to the likes of Resident Evil: Outbreak (Sasaki, 2004) and successor, Outbreak: File 2 (Sasaki, 2005) where characters navigate from one enclosed area to another, encountering ever evolving hordes of enemies before reaching their - in some instances, depressing - conclusions. Previous locations never really feel too far behind, whilst the unknown territory ahead feels long and painstaking to reach.
In the aforementioned farmhouse scene, Bryan (and the audience), can see three early set-pieces; Bryan's car, whereby the whole ordeal begins, the police vehicle showcasing the standard zombie virus in affect, and the barn revealing an evolved version of the cerberus (dog) akin to the las plagas, or Uroburos virus. Albeit, I could've done with a few more zombie encounters here and there...
Resident Evil (2026) | Film Review
However, this trend of ever increasing danger / evolution continues from scene to scene, from sewer systems to laboratory, until we reach the finale of the film.
Although I'm trying to avoid as many spoilers as possible, I still want to address the ending of the film due to a growing love it - hate it, making the rounds on the t'interwebs. Ignoring the ridiculously pointless comedy in the closing scenes, I actually really enjoyed the ending and felt like a breath of fresh-air for a Resident Evil film.
Lower your Combat / Survival Knives while I explain...
The film comes across like watching an NPC traversing the landscape of Raccoon City, encountering (and becoming) an enemy for the protagonists of the real stories within that world. Bryan is the yellow man on Google Earth, that's airdropped into the streets, on the otherside of Raccoon City, by Cregger, and left to survive. Bryan isn't the unrealistic / 'cool' hero that Chris Redfield, or Leon Kennedy*, or Billy Coen portray, who either have experience, or skills, whilst having beef with the Umbrella Corp, giant fuck-off abominations and secret global enterprises surviving when the every-man doesn't.
*I appreciate Leon started off a rookie, but he eventually grew beyond that to be every fanboys dreamboat... and, at least he doesn't punch a boulder.
Bryan's beef is with the every day, mundane struggle of earning enough dough from ad-hoc work and his biggest obstacle is keeping his failing relationship alive (well, and himself). It just so happens, by taking the delivery job to RCGH, he's thrown into a world that isn't focused on him. He misses his shots, he fails his initiative rolls, he mortally screws up almost as quickly as he starts. He's the character you don't want to play as in the games, but he's a pretty enjoyable character to watch struggle through the nightmare.
If my fat ass was dropped into the Raccoon City scenario, them zombies would be eatin' good for days!
I have to admit, after - the appalling - Return to Silent Hill completely destroying my hope for any form of game-to-film transition, I was surprised by Cregger's instalment to the Resident Evil's pantheon. It didn't need the usual faces from the game series - as Welcome to Raccoon City managed to screw that up tremendously - to achieve the undeniably claustrophobic feel, the fear of turning a corner / opening a door, or a chancing fate upon the next change of camera angle. The atmosphere alone reminded me of sneaking around the Spencer Mansion, or moving from one room to the next in RPD, or puzzle solving in Raccoon Zoo, or escaping hordes of zombies as a giant tofu....
Maybe not that last one.
I can't say I enjoyed everything about the film, because I didn't. The comedy overstayed its welcome and the lack of identity for each character diminished the value of their interactions. But the cinematography and framing enhanced the engulfing dread from area-to-area, complimented by the wonderful mix of shadows and spotlighting, embodying the isolating claustrophobia. Oh, and Abrams performance kept engagement, whilst almost everything else felt pantomime.
Knowing fans of the game series, this film will certainly be hit, or miss, with many longing for their husbandu, or the want to see a like-for-like fidelity to the main series of games. To that I say, play and cherish the games. To those that want to see an unremarkable, everyday, original character, thrown into the nightmare of Raccoon City, give this film a watch.
It's infinitely better than Return to Silent Hill... but so is a toothache.
