Sometimes a horror movie makes you cover your eyes. Sometimes it makes you scream. And sometimes, somehow, it has you laughing moments later.
Resident Evil does all three.
Directed and co-written by Zach Cregger, the filmmaker behind Barbarian and Weapons, Resident Evil feels like Cregger taking everything he knows about making audiences uncomfortable and turning the volume all the way up.
And somehow, it works ridiculously well.
The film follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who accepts an urgent assignment on a snowy night in Raccoon City. He doesn’t know exactly what he’s carrying, only that it needs to get to the hospital. But after he accidentally hits a mysterious woman on a dark road, his simple delivery quickly becomes a nightmare involving monsters, zombies, strange creatures and one very confused man who keeps trying to convince himself that none of this can possibly be real.
And honestly? This film was so much fun!
From the very beginning, Resident Evil wastes absolutely no time throwing Bryan (and us) into chaos. One minute you’re trying to understand what’s happening. The next, something is crawling out of the darkness, and you’re thinking, Oh. We’re doing this now.
Then another creature appears.
And another.
And suddenly you’re sitting there thinking, what on earth is going on? And, I mean that in the best way possible. The filmography was done so well that at times, I felt like I was playing a video game myself.
That’s the magic of this film.
Cregger proved with Barbarian that he knows how to make an audience feel like they have absolutely no idea where a story is going. Weapons showed another side of his ability to blend horror with dark humour and unsettling surprises. Resident Evil takes that same unpredictability and drops it into a survival-horror playground.
Yes, there are plenty of jump scares, and some of them genuinely got me. There were moments when I wanted to cover my eyes because I absolutely did not need to see what was about to come crawling out of the darkness.
But then Bryan would do something strange. And suddenly I’m laughing.
Bryan is one of the biggest reasons the movie works so well. He isn’t the typical fearless action hero who walks into danger with a loaded gun and a plan. He’s a regular guy who has somehow found himself in the middle of the worst night imaginable.
He keeps trying to rationalize everything.
The strange woman? Maybe there’s an explanation.
The monster? That didn’t happen.
The dog? Okay, maybe that was a little weird.
The next monster? Absolutely not.
His constant disbelief becomes one of the movie’s funniest running jokes. Bryan is essentially the audience’s voice, reacting to every new nightmare with the same exhausted confusion we would probably have ourselves.
At one point, he asks, “What the fuck was that about?”
And honestly, Bryan, I was wondering the exact same thing! Austin Abrams carries the film with his authentic and relatable performance.
But beneath all the blood, gore and completely insane creatures, Bryan’s journey has a surprisingly human starting point. His girlfriend is pregnant, and while he’s out on this seemingly routine delivery, he’s also avoiding a much more personal conversation about his future.
Then his entire world literally falls apart.
Suddenly, the question isn’t whether he’s ready for adulthood.
It’s whether he’s going to survive the night.
That gives Resident Evil an unexpected emotional centre. Bryan begins as someone trying to avoid difficult questions about his life, only to find himself facing something much bigger, and much more terrifying, than anything he could have imagined.
He doesn’t know what he’s doing.
He doesn’t have all the answers.
He’s just trying to get the package where it needs to go.
And that package turns out to be much more important than he ever imagined.
What makes the film especially satisfying for anyone who loves the games is the way it captures the feeling of playing Resident Evil. You’re exploring unfamiliar spaces, looking for a way forward, trying to figure out what is safe and what absolutely isn’t. Even the smallest obstacle can become terrifying when you’re being chased by something that wants to kill you.
Sometimes the biggest challenge isn’t even the monster.
It’s finding a way past the stupid lock standing between you and safety.
And yes, there are moments where I genuinely wanted to yell at Bryan to just RUN.
But that’s part of the fun.
Cregger understands that survival horror isn’t only about fighting. It’s about uncertainty. It’s about opening a door when you have no idea what’s on the other side. It’s about hearing something in the distance and desperately hoping it doesn’t come closer.
And then, when it does, trying not to scream.
The film also knows exactly when to make us laugh. The comedy never completely removes the horror; instead, it makes the experience even more enjoyable. One minute, you’re staring at a creature that looks like it crawled straight out of your worst nightmare, and the next you’re laughing either at or with Bryan.
That balance is what makes Resident Evil such a blast.
The creatures get increasingly outrageous. The set pieces get bigger. The night gets crazier. And just when you think you’ve finally figured out what kind of movie you’re watching, Cregger throws something else at you. Okay… what now?
For me, that’s what makes this adaptation so special. It doesn’t feel like it’s desperately trying to prove that a video-game movie can be “serious.” It understands that there is joy in the ridiculousness. There is joy in being scared. There is joy in trying to survive something completely absurd.
And there is definitely joy in watching Bryan stumble through it all while looking like he would very much like to go home.
Through all the screams and laughter, Resident Evil becomes a little reminder that courage doesn’t always look heroic. Sometimes courage looks like being terrified and continuing anyway. Sometimes it looks like having absolutely no idea what you’re doing and still taking the next step.
And sometimes it looks like a very unlucky medical courier driving through a snowstorm with monsters chasing him, saying:
“I only use guns in video games. It’s confusing in real life!”
Resident Evil is bloody, bizarre, hilarious, terrifying and ridiculously entertaining. For me, this is the kind of game adaptation I’ve been waiting for — one that understands that the best part isn’t simply recreating the game. It’s capturing the feeling of being inside it.
And if Zach Cregger can take the chaos of Barbarian, the dark humour and unpredictability of Weapons, and throw it into the world of Resident Evil…well, consider me ready for another round.
So grab your popcorn, your flashflight, and that rifle real close.
Resident Evil arrives in theatres Friday, September 18.
