Zach Cregger, the director behind breakout horror-comedies Barbarian and Weapons, has delivered a new film adaptation of Capcom’s iconic Resident Evil franchise that critics are calling a near-perfect sci-fi thriller. The movie, which stars Austin Abrams as a bumbling medical courier named Bryan, opened in theaters on September 18 and follows his harrowing journey through the zombie-infested Raccoon City — the same iconic locale from the original games. While early reactions compared the film to Mad Max: Fury Road, describing it as an ultra-stylish, non-stop thrill ride, reviewers who saw it describe a bleaker, smaller story that nonetheless captures the fight-or-flight experience of playing the source material.
The setup is deceptively simple. Bryan arrives late at a hospital to deliver an unspecified organ and head home to his girlfriend, only for a doctor to flag him down with a high-paying delivery job: drive the package to Raccoon City itself. The crowd at one screening let out a delighted groan at the mention of the franchise’s most infamous setting — a small scratch on the fourth wall that deepens throughout the film until it might as well be broken.
A Bumbling Everyman Carries the Plot
Bryan’s journey unfolds predictably enough, though Cregger peppers the trip with unexpected jump scares. He travels from a small country house with video game tutorial vibes to a creepy tunnel and an even creepier sewer system before making his way through the city to a top-secret lab that may be able to avert the apocalypse. Along the way, Bryan upgrades his weaponry — pistol, shotgun, then machine gun — improving only marginally at each.
Cregger’s smartest choice is casting Abrams as an everyman whose first instinct is to panic rather than play unflappable military tough guy. The result is a much more relatable and funnier protagonist: viewers laugh every time Bryan aims his gun only to miss horribly, panics in crisis, or stares in wonder at a tentacled monster slithering toward him when he should be fighting back.
Video Game Logic Fuels the Comedy
The director wields video game logic to both fuel jokes and keep the plot moving at breakneck speed. A recurring gag holds that padlocks are nearly indestructible in this world — even to point-blank shotgun blasts — because, as in the games, a locked door can only be opened by solving a puzzle and finding the key. And when Bryan shifts from one sequence to another, say by jumping down a manhole into the sewer below, whatever monster was chasing him instantly vanishes like it might between levels.
A Buddy Would Have Helped
Like most Resident Evil-style games, the protagonist’s story is largely solitary. Bryan meets only a handful of characters along the way — many already infected and undead — leaving Abrams to carry the plot on his own two narrow shoulders. The actor rises to the challenge, but one brief sequence with an Umbrella Corporation agent played by Paul Walter Hauser proves it might have been better.
The two share such incredible chemistry that it makes viewers wish the entire film had been a buddy-horror-comedy — a pairing that has left some speculating about what the sequel could be.
“Resident Evil is funny, scary, gross, and beautiful. Above all else, it captures the fight-or-flight experience of actually playing a Resident Evil game.”
The Reviewer 
A Love Letter to the Franchise
Cregger channels his love for both the franchise and the genre into something never really seen before. Rather than an ultra-stylish action spectacle, the film is a bleaker, smaller story told by a filmmaker deftly weaving himself into the tapestry of a much larger franchise without upsetting any preexisting canon.
For those who have always had a tricky relationship with horror games — wanting to love them but refusing to fully engage — the film arrives as something made just for them. After watching it, even longtime skeptics feel inspired to pick up a controller and take one step forward into Cronenbergian horror, much like Bryan does.
Looking Ahead
The Resident Evil film continues its theatrical run, with the story set in theaters on September 18. Fans can expect more Easter egg references that bounce off the fourth wall rather than breaking it outright, and speculation is mounting about whether Cregger’s buddy-horror-comedy vision will return for a sequel.
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