Zach Cregger is a director for whom I have a huge affinity, mostly due to his excellent films Barbarian and Weapons, the latter of which, regular readers will know, was one of my favourite films last year. The way he walks that thin absurdist line between horror and comedy is a thing of genius, and it works exceptionally well in both of his films. Beyond that, these films also excel in their spell of mystery, teasing a dark underbelly and prompting the protagonist to solve said mystery. This is particularly true of Barbarian, which shrouds itself in a blood-curdling mystery, and its slow peeling back of its layers is immensely satisfying. Audiences are encouraged to play along with the protagonist too, using them as a vessel in which to solve the mystery and experience the gradual descent into a darker story. This symbiotic relationship between a protagonist and the audience is certainly reminiscent of my other love outside of film: video games. In fact, there is no other medium where you have a closer connection with a fictional character. Even when reading a book that’s in first-person, which may be a close second, you are not directly influencing their story like you are with a video game. Cregger understands this key relationship between protagonist and audience, and when I heard he was doing the new Resident Evil adaptation, I was cautiously optimistic. The reputation Resident Evil has in cinema is tarnished due to Paul W. S. Anderson’s six films, often used as a cornerstone in the debate of why video game films do not work. But if anybody was going to change that with this new film, Cregger certainly has the ability. With the dust settling after this film’s release, Resident Evil is a great success, mostly because it shows that Cregger understands the source material, but even more so, how to make a video game adaptation work. It is a full-throttle thrill-ride, dripping with horror, gore and Cregger’s token comedy. It struggles to carry its momentum all the way through to its conclusion, and some of its references may be on the nose for some, but if you are wanting a succinct slice of popcorn-spilling fun, 2026 has offered little as worthy as this.

Resident Evil stars Austin Abrams as Bryan, who we see dropping off a package at a hospital. He is a courier, tasked with taking vital organs to different hospitals for those who need them. Instead of going home, trying to avoid a conversation about his girlfriend’s (Sara Paxton) newly discovered pregnancy, he takes another job at the hospital. It becomes clear that this is not just any job, as it is deemed to be of critical importance and will earn Bryan double his usual pay. He accepts it and thus is tasked with taking the package to Raccoon City General Hospital, located deep within the Colorado Mountains. He is not to open the bag or ask questions, and so he gets on his way to drop off the package. Slipping and sliding down the snowy woodland road, Bryan accidentally ploughs into a woman who steps onto the road. Although relatively unresponsive, she is alive, and so Bryan tries to take her to the hospital with him. However, when a police car comes to help and takes her instead, the police car completely swerves off the road as Bryan is trailing behind it. That same woman whom he ran over tries to attack him, squealing like a monster. Hiding in a nearby farmhouse, Bryan finds that other nearby residents seem to have a similar bloodlust and peculiar affliction. As he gets his bearings and ventures towards Raccoon City, he learns the true nature of his package and ultimate goal. A virus has spread throughout the city, turning its residents into flesh-eating husks and mutated monsters, and he holds the key to making a cure for the madness around him.

A key reason Resident Evil works is that it feels like you are playing one of the games, succeeding in being much more than just your average video game adaptation. I have already mentioned the close-knit relationship you, as the audience, have with Bryan, and that is key to establishing this feeling. We experience this film entirely from Bryan’s perspective, seeing everything as he sees it, sometimes even through his eyes directly. First-person POV shots are obviously synonymous with video games, as many entire games are played from this perspective. This helps to immerse you in the character you are playing as, and those fleeting uses of the POV shot during this film evoke a similar feeling. Being directly behind the gun barrel as he is firing at a zombie not only gets you in the action as close as possible; it makes it feel exactly like a first-person shooter game, in this case referencing Resident Evil 7, 8, 9, and some of the more niche spinoff titles. But that is not all Cregger does to give this a video game feel, making the very DNA of the film feel quite game-like. It is written with an escalating level-based structure, feeling incremental in its rising stakes but never in a jagged or awkward way. It seamlessly pulls you through these ‘levels’, escalating the plot, Bryan’s combat prowess, and even introducing new monsters like a game would introduce a new enemy to fight. I particularly love how Bryan starts off with a pistol and progressively gets better weapons in each escalating level, matching the new and more demanding threat. This is exactly what happens in the games, slowly turning you from a bumbling mess at the horror around you into a fully-fledged badass by the end. All of these things are incredibly charming, showing that Cregger does not think himself above the games and instead tries to deliver a love letter to them. There are plenty of references to the games, and even though they are often unsubtle, it does give me a buzz, as a fan, to see a typewriter save room, or a can of first-aid spray on a crate. After all, easter eggs like these are earned due to all the other care that has been taken to capture that feel of the games without compromising its quality as a film.

Though working on an already established IP, Cregger has not refrained from letting him work his own vision into this film. Resident Evil is full of well-crafted horror sequences, but the most surprising fact is how funny this film is. Unquestionably leaning on more comedy than he ever has, Cregger has practically made a full-on horror-comedy here rather than a horror with comedic leanings. Key to the laugh-factor here is an electric performance from Austin Abrams, who delivers every line and scream perfectly. He does not put a foot wrong, and some of the line reads that may not even be that funny on paper become hilarious due to his delivery. Compared to the decorated badasses of the Resident Evil game universe, it is refreshing to see an Average Joe character like Bryan thrown into such an absurd situation, and Abrams understands that assignment. Little things like his high-pitched screams feel realistic, but are also consistently comical. Some of the lines do start to get a bit annoying towards the end, with Abrams painfully and unsubtly shouting ‘Video games!’ as he topples a few foes being one of the worst offenders. But the hit rate with the comedy is still good 90% of the time, and it will definitely give you plenty of smiles and a few chuckles. Its writing is a bit thread bare outside of the basic plot and comedy writing, meaning it does start to wear thin towards the end, even if it is a short film sitting at 94 minutes. The only real consistent throughline is Bryan’s clear fear of becoming a father and the overwhelming nature of the situation around him, giving him pause about that fact. Though simply done, it is told quite nicely and there are definitely some allusions to that fear of fatherhood in some of the enemies he fights. Aside from that character writing, there is not much else to dwell on, but with all the chaos this film throws at you, it is unlikely you will be thinking too hard about much else anyway.

Resident Evil is a horror-romp that knows exactly what it is, seeking to entertain and succeeding in spades. Cregger clearly loves Resident Evil and has adapted it remarkably well, eliciting the very same emotions you feel when playing the game whilst watching this film. As a lover of the game series, it makes me so happy to see someone finally do them justice in a film format, rather than making them seem like a complete joke. Video game adaptations have been more popular lately, but very few have actually understood that you have to conjure something at least close to the original format to fully adapt it. Something like The Last of Us TV series fundamentally fails to understand how integral the video game medium is to tell its story. That show tells its story beat for beat but it does not feel like a true adaptation of such an interactive medium, relegating the audience to a spectator rather than an active participant. Resident Evil involves you in it, immerses you within its world and with its protagonist Bryan so strongly and that is why it works so well. Even if somebody who watches this may never intend to play the games, there is some semblance of that feeling to be felt here, and that is exactly how an adaptation like this should be done. If you are not a Resident Evil fan, this is still absolutely worth a watch, and if you are an existing fan, don’t even think twice.