Zach Cregger wants us to remember one thing when we see his take on Resident Evil: VIDEO GAMES.
We hear those words shouted again and again at very specific moments by actor Austin Abrams in Zach Cregger’s take on Resident Evil. We’re going to see a horror film, we’re going to see a horror film based on a video game, we’re going to see a horror film based on a video game that we know intimately and have a lot to say about.
Yet with this movie Zach Cregger is trying to tell us that movies based on video games can be great video game movies once we accept the bombasticism of the source material. Resident Evil the video game doesn’t have a purpose, it doesn’t have a theme; it’s just exploding zombie heads, it’s typewriters, it’s medicinal plants and big dumb moments and climbing through stuff and jump scares and survival and finding bullets.
So let’s do that with the movie, too. Let’s lean into that as much as possible, and celebrate it when it needs to be celebrated.
Resident Evil the movie perfectly encapsulates Resident Evil the games. That’s meant to be plural, because what Cregger has done is take the goofiness of the games, all of them, grab the best moments and roll them into one experience. This may be best exemplified by the film’s consistent, one clear line of storytelling, without any dips in the plot or action. We cannot go grab a refill of our popcorn, we don’t have time to contemplate what we just saw because BAM! we’re on to the next sequence. The plot starts small but then builds to a massive, wild conclusion. Every moment is designed to slightly evolve and grow from the previous one, much like the whole idea of the T-virus outbreak in the games. We are all in on Abrams’ excellent performance, too. It’s easy to say that a character is “all of us” but he really is “all of us,” at least in how we’d react to the situations. Each thing we encounter is wilder and bigger than the last. “VIDEO GAMES!” he yells. “I CAN’T USE GUNS IN REAL LIFE, I’M NOT A GUN GUY IN VIDEO GAMES.”
We’re regularly pointing at the screen, yelling either “OHHHH!” or giving a wink and a nod to the game references, because we’re definitely in on it.
The idea of the movie being a sort of reflection of the video gamey-ness of it all is brilliant. Abrams reminds himself (and us, basically) that real life isn’t a video game, that he would suck at shooting a real gun, and yet here he is, shooting a gun in very video game situations. It’s funny, it’s often hilarious, and it works so well here. Modern horror has become a thought-provoking, often unsettling experience. Cregger instead says “I love video games, I love the game of video games, and I want to translate that into this piece.” It entertains us from the opening minute to the closing seconds, and moves at a blistering speed, grabbing influence from slasher and monster movies of the 70s and 80s instead of the heady paranomalism of today.
It’s easy to see Cregger’s style and progression of filmmaking taking hold here. This is his (latest) peak. This is what he’s been building too. From the opening moments to the grandiose finale, this is Zach Cregger at his finest. Even the ending is pure Cregs, leaving so much open to interpretation, and leaves us with the same “what the fuck” that Abrams yells throughout the film as the next zombie he faces is even more incredible than the last.
This is easily the best Resident Evil outside of the games, and dare I say that it may be the best Resident Evil game in a way. And, well, it’s the best good time horror movie of the last decade.
VIDEO GAMES.
RATING: 5/5
This review took place at a special screening of the film. Thanks to Seth at CatWithMonocle and the Michigan Movie Critics Guild for the screening opportunity. The film opens in theaters on September 18, 2026.
