by Charles Kirkland Jr.
Resident Evil finds director Zach Cregger taking one of gaming’s most recognizable franchises back to Raccoon City, where an ordinary medical courier stumbles into an extraordinary nightmare. Rather than simply recreating a familiar storyline, Cregger delivers a bloody, immersive horror movie that understands the world of Resident Evil without becoming trapped by it.
One Last Delivery to Raccoon City
One cold, snowy night, Bryan, a medical courier, is offered a sizable bonus to make one final delivery.
Instead of heading home to his pregnant girlfriend, he accepts the assignment.
His destination?
Raccoon City.
It is a decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Austin Abrams stars as Bryan in a screenplay written by Zach Cregger and Shay Hatten. The film also stars Zach Cherry and Kali Reis, with Cregger serving as director.
What begins as a routine assignment quickly becomes something far more terrifying when Bryan discovers that Raccoon City is infected.
And unlike the heroes who have traditionally occupied this universe, Bryan isn’t prepared for what awaits him.
Resident Evil: A New Way Into Raccoon City
Fresh off the successes of Barbarian and Weapons, Cregger steps away from his own original properties to tackle one of gaming’s most recognizable franchises.
That presents a different challenge.
Video game adaptations have long wrestled with how closely they should follow their source material. Stay too close and the movie can become predictable. Move too far away and fans may wonder why the property was adapted in the first place.
Somehow, Cregger avoids both traps.
Rather than simply retelling the main story of the first game, Resident Evil asks a much simpler and more interesting question:
What would happen if an ordinary person accidentally stumbled into an infected Raccoon City?
Say goodbye to Milla Jovovich.
This is something new.
An Ordinary Man in an Extraordinary Nightmare
That decision becomes the movie’s greatest strength, and Resident Evil finds Cregger using Bryan’s vulnerability to make Raccoon City frightening again.
Bryan isn’t arriving in Raccoon City armed with extensive knowledge of biological weapons or years of combat training. He is a hospital courier who agreed to make one last delivery before going home.
Then his ordinary world disappears.
Cregger uses Bryan’s perspective to rediscover Raccoon City alongside the audience. Every disturbing encounter becomes more frightening because Bryan is no better prepared for it than we would be.
The approach also gives longtime fans a different way of experiencing familiar territory.
We know something is terribly wrong.
Bryan doesn’t.
And that perspective is what makes the movie work.
Zach Cregger Knows How to Build Tension
Cregger has proven particularly adept at building anticipation and delivering scares when audiences least expect them.
Much of what makes Resident Evil work comes from Cregger’s ability to manipulate expectations without constantly trying to outsmart the audience.
Interestingly, Resident Evil occasionally finds him leaning into more conventional horror techniques.
There are setups where experienced horror audiences will immediately recognize danger approaching and think:
Nope.
Yet that familiarity doesn’t necessarily work against the movie.
Cregger understands that he is operating within an established horror universe. Instead of constantly trying to outsmart the audience, he uses those expectations to build tension around Bryan’s increasingly desperate situation.
Sometimes knowing something terrible is coming makes waiting for it even worse.
Resident Evil Rewards Fans Without Depending on Them
Longtime fans will find plenty to recognize.
There are references and Easter eggs scattered throughout the movie, but Cregger uses them sparingly enough that they never become the reason for the film to exist.
That’s important.
For Resident Evil, that balance separates Cregger’s approach from adaptations that become so preoccupied with pleasing existing fans that newcomers are left outside the gates.
Resident Evil works whether you’ve spent decades exploring the games or simply walked into the theater looking for a good horror movie.
The mythology established throughout the Resident Evil franchise adds texture rather than homework.
Newcomers can follow Bryan into the nightmare without needing to understand every piece of Raccoon City’s history, while longtime fans can enjoy recognizing the details lurking around the edges.
That balance is something video game adaptations don’t always get right.
Raccoon City Goes Big in IMAX
Then there is the sheer spectacle of it.
The movie was shot for IMAX, and Cregger makes good use of the format, particularly when the blood, gore, and intensity begin escalating.
Raccoon City should feel overwhelming.
Here, it does.
The larger canvas makes Bryan seem even smaller against the nightmare surrounding him, while the horror becomes increasingly difficult to escape.
Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, and language throughout, Resident Evil certainly doesn’t shy away from the gruesome side of the franchise.
A Video Game Adaptation Doesn’t Have to Retell the Game
Some fans may argue that this isn’t really a video game movie because it doesn’t directly recreate a storyline from one of the games.
But that misses the point.
A successful adaptation doesn’t necessarily have to tell a story audiences already know.
It can take the world, mythology, atmosphere, and rules of an established franchise and use them to tell something new.
That’s exactly what this Resident Evil does.
Cregger respects the source material without becoming beholden to it, finding a different doorway into Raccoon City rather than walking through one audiences have already entered countless times.
Resident Evil: Final Verdict
Resident Evil succeeds in areas where many video game adaptations have struggled.
It is a competent, complete horror movie that doesn’t depend on audiences knowing its source material to understand why they should be frightened. Fans get the mythology, references, atmosphere, blood, and gore they expect, while everyone else gets an accessible horror story about an ordinary man experiencing one spectacularly terrible night.
Most importantly, Cregger understands that adapting Resident Evil doesn’t mean recreating Resident Evil.
It means understanding what makes its world frightening and finding a new story worth telling inside it.
Sometimes the simplest assessment is also the most appropriate.
This movie is good.
Resident Evil opens in theaters September 18, 2026.
Grade: B+
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