Promotional material for "Resident Evil" by Luke Del Rosario
“Resident Evil” was one of three scripts written by Zach Cregger in the wake of the success of 2022’s “Barbarian,” and, unlike most video game adaptations, he did it of his own accord, rather than being hired by some corporate executive to deliver a soulless cash grab. As a long-time fan of the franchise, Cregger simply wanted to make the film he had always dreamed of – one that captures the feeling of playing a Resident Evil game for the first time.
The film follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who must deliver a highly valuable item to Raccoon City General Hospital. He’s incredibly determined, but also incredibly incompetent, making his trek through the horrors mirror how a first-time player of the Resident Evil games would feel. It becomes simultaneously stressful and hilarious, seeing a regular guy, who is not a gun guy, cross paths with all of these evil residents.
One of the most significant decisions Cregger made during shooting was to make the cinematography as subjective as possible. Abrams and the camera often move in sync, whether that be in third-person point of view, or first-person. This puts viewers as firmly in Bryan’s shoes as if this story was a tenth game in the franchise. I’ve never seen a film that feels more like a video game and that is more respectful to its video game source than this one.
And yet, he isn’t just a blank slate for the audience to project themselves onto. While this hellish journey delivers the anxiety-inducing scares, Cregger doesn’t forget to center it all around the character and their internal conflict. Bryan is portrayed as a genuinely good person and carries issues from his personal life through the whole journey, which truly had me invested in his fate. There’s real heart behind the horror, when it could have easily gotten lost in the mayhem with the unrelenting pace.
At a brisk ninety minutes, the film almost never hits the brakes, and with it constantly evolving in its environments, enemies and weapons, it’s always switching gears to keep the audience from growing comfortable.
However, Bryan’s comedic failures and heartfelt emotional release still provide critical moments of respite throughout, and Austin Abrams is completely believable in each of them. He first caught my attention in Cregger’s previous film, 2025’s “Weapons,” and he’s a real chameleon, completely becoming the character.
I have no experience with the Resident Evil games, so all of the monsters and lore were completely new to me. I missed a lot of references, which a friend explained to me after. The film works incredibly well as an introduction to this world, but from what I’ve heard, the story taking place in 2026 instead of 1998 does set it apart from the canon of the games.
But it definitely fits in with the rest of Zach Cregger’s filmography. After two original stories, he’s managed to take on an established IP without losing his voice, firmly establishing himself as a strong voice in the horror genre and one to follow for many years to come.
