Talk about hot off the press. I’ve just got home from the cinema after seeing the new Resident Evil. Wranage was going to see it, but he’s dead, or dying, or something.
From the off, I don’t think I’ve ever played any of the games. I know of them, how they work and the basic story, but that’s it, apart from the Paul W. S. Anderson movies with Milla Jovovich. Those movies really dragged on; basically, the first one and the last one are good, the others are filler.
You know the details of this version.
The Story
I’m not going to spoil anything for you; I’ll just mention the basics and leave the rest of the story to unfold when you see it.
We meet Bryan (Austin Abrams), he’s a courier for medical supplies- a kidney here, a blood sample there. He’s about to stop for the night, but he’s offered double the money to take something to the hospital in Raccoon City. The idiot only goes and takes the job…Even I know Raccoon City is bad.
As he’s driving, he’s talking to his girlfriend, as they have issues. He’s not concentrating and hits a lady in the middle of nowhere. Being the upstanding lad he is, he goes to make sure she’s OK. She is OK, but at the same time, not.
A policeman stops him, and they basically head off to the hospital, with the lady in the policeman’s car. Bryan sees the cop car leave the road and end up on the roof. Again, he stops; the cop is dead, and the lady is nowhere to be seen. Things get creepy, and worse, as Bryan tries to make his way to the hospital with the package.
The story is nice and simple, with no major surprises, but keeps you invested.
The Cast
Abrams is new to me, but I like Bryan in this Resident Evil a lot. He just wants to do his job and get home. He doesn’t make any majorly stupid decisions. If there’s a strange noise, he’s happy to leave it alone and go the other way.
One thing I have noticed about modern horror is how unbearably annoying the main characters usually are. Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, It Ends, The Devil’s Mouth spring to mind. I cannot wait for any of the main characters to be killed off; they are stupid and annoying.
Bryan isn’t. He’s a regular Joe who ends up in a horrible situation. I identified with him; I liked him. Basically, Bryan is me: a guy trying to do his job, and things get weird. Although I haven’t been caught in the middle of a zombie outbreak, not yet.
There are odd decisions in the cast in this new Resident Evil. Paul Walter Hauser turns up, and I think he was miscast. I’m not going to spoil anything, but I see him as a comedian, not an actor. When he turns up, he’s more there for comic relief, and it took me out of the movie for a bit.
Tone
This brings me on to the tone of Resident Evil. I went in thinking it was going to be a horror, like Weapons. However, Resident Evil is much more comical in tone; I think a bit too much in places.
As I said, I was expecting a horror, but the comedy overrides the horror in a few places. I think, on a second viewing, I will be a little more prepared for this, and hopefully enjoy it more.
Some of the horror is good; in fact, some of it is great! There’s also a great moment where Bryan tries to come to terms with his fate and has a ‘moment’. It’s pretty heartfelt, but then it’s broken by a comic moment.
None of this is a bad thing; it was just unexpected. I think Cregger doing something more comical is a good thing; he’s not just sticking with the horror thing. In my opinion, a good director will try different things. Robert Wise directed Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Sound of Music, and The Haunting. Three very different movies, but Wise nailed them.
Cregger
Watching Resident Evil, in my opinion, Cregger is an above-average director. What’s great about him is that he can hold back.
I watched Passenger the other day, and it was pretty good. There were great moments of direction, but they were spoilt with cheesy over-the-top jump scares. It was a shame.
What Cregger does with Resident Evil is to tone it all down. There are scenes of complete silence, where you can only hear Bryan breathing…and it really works. Yes, he throws in some jump scares, but they are handled so much better than other directors do. I found myself giggling at some of them; they were nicely timed and even snuck up on me.
It’s been a since I’ve seen Barbarian for a while, but I remember liking it. I thought Weapons was one of the best movies of 2025. It was a genuinely good horror movie; it kept you guessing and played out well.
With Resident Evil, Cregger is 3 for 3 in my eyes.
The Music
Another thing I really liked was the music. You know how John Carpenter used Ennio Morricone for The Thing but held him back. There’s no big score to The Thing; all the music is subtle and very ‘quiet’.
Cregger does the same in Resident Evil. There are moments; I imagined another director would have had a hundred violins scratching away to ‘build the tension’. Cregger doesn’t do this; he keeps it all very subtle, so you aren’t expecting a jump scare; in fact, you don’t know what’s going to happen!
I’m going to say, some of the music reminded me of The Thing. There are moments that could have been written by John Carpenter himself.
Overall
I mention The Thing, and there are moments where Resident Evil feel very much like The Thing. This was due to the music, the photography, and some of the effects.
Yes, there’s a lot of CG going on here, but some of the creature effects are very much like The Thing. I’m by no means comparing the two movies; just some of the tone is the same.
I went into Resident Evil with an open mind, but I was hoping it would be good. It is good; it’s fun, horrific, and you can’t help but like Bryan.
As I said, I know nothing of the Resident Evil lore, and this movie does deal with it, but only in the third act; again, I won’t spoil things.
The movie feels like playing a game; maybe not THE game, but A game. Bryan upgrades from a handgun to a shotgun, then later a submachine gun. It seems there are puzzles for him to solve. Each new ‘area’ provides a different set. None of this is bad because I was happy to follow Bryan’s journey. The poor guy; I just want him to get home.
Resident Evil is quality entertainment. You might get different mileage; especially if you know the lore. If you can look past it, you’re just in for a treat. I will be watching it again on streaming.
Resident Evil is now in cinemas. 2026 has been a good year for horror.
