As a longtime fan of the franchise since 1998’s Resident Evil 2, Zack Cregger’s take on the storied horror franchise quickly won me over. The comedian-turned-modern horror maven was the perfect fit to helm this fresh version of a movie series that has been shambling along for decades. As much as I adored Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, it flopped at the box office, and few people were as enthusiastic. 2026’s Resident Evil feels practically revolutionary compared to what came before, packed to the gills with gory, goopy goodness and a large-scale emulation of that feeling only gamers will fully grasp. Roping in his previous Weapons collaborator Austin Abrams, Cregger unlocks the sweet spot in adapting a one-off tale. His script uses the template of Resident Evil as a launching point, eventually evolving into a chaotic thrill ride. Loaded with Easter eggs and brutal brawls, Resident Evil is a fast-paced gem, and a golden standard for video game adaptations.
Bryan (Abrams) starts the film delivering the first of his packages, arriving at a hospital, where he is frantically trying to get someone to sign off on his delivery. The only real backstory we get on his character comes by way of communications with an unseen girlfriend, debating whether or not to keep their baby. The real point of Bryan is acting as an audience surrogate, one who frantically reacts in a realistic way, and one who only knows how to handle a gun because of a video game. There are times when the film almost breaks the fourth wall, becoming a meta commentary on the increasingly preposterous attempts to get to Raccoon City General Hospital. This includes remarks on the various padlocks that seem to bar progress, or the traumatic events that play out beat by beat.
The monsters definitely recall some from the games, though none are lifted directly. A big bad comprised of many different bodies smushed together pursues our lead in the same way as a Stalker enemy type featured in nearly every Resident Evil video game installment since Resident Evil 2‘s Mr. X. The monsters all look distinct enough to still turn the stomach at their nastiness. Let’s just say, there’s a lot of tentacles. The creatures are varied enough to make it feel like a proper theatrical monster movie. Should this succeed at the box office, it will be the rare big budget horror monster movie to thrive in recent years.
Also, like the game, this film is practically broken up into zones. Each time Bryan reaches a new section, he is gifted with a weapon upgrade of some sort, and his constant inventory management even becomes a major plot point. Though the story can be docked for being theadbare, it still functions amiably given the relative simplicity of a game narrative. They did not need characters plucked from the game. We have nearly a dozen movies that remixed those elements previously. Instead, the focus is on survival. Quite a few scenes are broken up into an actual POV perspective, which is quite cool to see play out on screen. The character’s lack of depth is par for the course, especially considering the breakneck pacing. Bryan’s authentic, often hilarious reactions got major laughs at my screening. The frantic grunts and noises he makes along the way are par for the course. In his second collaboration with Cregger, Austin Abrams really shines. He’s the de facto lead of the film, fully on screen for nearly every second of its runtime. He creates a flawed portrait of a broken man, one who will deliver his package, no matter the cost. Abrams is truly fantastic as Bryan. His comedy of errors only plays out so satisfyingly due to that layered performance.
Imagining yourself in these situations is exactly what it feels like to play a video game. Intentional situational comedy seems masterfully executed, as only Cregger could pull off. Similar to both Barbarian and Weapons, the dark humor blends spectacularly with the grim horror landscape. Raccoon City becomes a dangerous place, one where anything could lurk around any corner. There are a handful of jump scares here and there, but mostly, this Resident Evil leans into the intensity of its horrific scenarios. An attention to detail in the way he choreographs his suspense recalls both of Cregger’s previous masterful horror efforts. That said, this is the first of those three films to not feature a major gearshift at some point during its progress toward an unpredictably wild finale. His take on the material shows a fluid understanding for game mechanics. A love letter to the series at large still never needs to directly adopt any of its larger plot points. In that realm, the mythology of the games seems somewhat intact. There’s an Umbrella Corporation, there’s a virus that has broken out, and there’s a lot of crazy shit and evil monsters on the loose. Other than that, Cregger seemingly has a playground of chaos to meddle with, and meddle he does. An eerie score ties it all together with a twisted bow.
Whether or not the campy flick will be able to satiate the insane fanbase of the game series (it won’t), the production value and wild creativity of this new era on the hyper-successful film franchise cannot be denied. That intimate sense of creeping dread has been nailed right through the head. When it comes to the horror angle of Resident Evil, no one does it better than Cregger. Without the baggage of decades of franchise lore or lavishly attempting to recreate what came before, Resident Evil carries a small package with massive genre wallop. This adrenaline-injected monster movie stays pumping through your veins long after its exclamation mark of an ending.
The infection spreads worldwide: Resident Evil is now playing in theaters.
Great review !