Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil film is now in theaters, and after months of fan skepticism about the movie’s creative liberties with Capcom’s survival horror franchise, audiences are coming away with mixed but largely positive reactions. The film is currently holding a 91-percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, an 83 user score on Metacritic, and a 3.9 out of 5 stars on Letterboxd, though the debate over whether it is a good horror movie or a good Resident Evil movie has become the story of the week. What fans are grappling with is a fundamental question about adaptation itself: when a film borrows a franchise’s name but reimagines its world, does it betray the source material or honor its spirit?
Unlike most entries in the series, which center on cops, special agents, and other figures seemingly suited to confronting zombie horrors, Cregger’s film follows a regular guy named Bryan, a medical courier delivering an important package to Raccoon City at the onset of the outbreak. Instead of executing kick-flips and delivering one-liners like Leon Kennedy, Bryan is genuinely in peril the entire time, and his constant fumbling, anxiety, and nervous swearing are meant to evoke the feeling of holding a controller during a tense run. As one fan put it, watching Bryan navigate the apocalypse reads like watching a terrified Let’s Player work through a game.
A Horror Movie That Might Not Be a Resident Evil Movie
Many viewers have embraced the film for what it is: a somewhat comedic, Evil Dead-style horror picture whose laughs are driven by Bryan’s incompetence and disbelief at the monstrous events unfolding around him. Cregger reportedly cut a lot of jokes out of the movie after test audiences found it too funny, and he has since said he likes the final cut more than the funnier version.
“The movie was incredible,” a fan writes on Reddit. “The POV scenes flowed seamlessly with the film, they weren’t over the top or begging to be noticed. Each set piece felt like an encounter in the game as well. I especially loved the ending too, it was ironically twisted. Respectable jump scares and the lead actor played a convincing everyday guy going through the motions of trying to survive an overnight apocalypse.”
Reddit user
But a vocal minority of fans are less satisfied, not only because the film deviates from the source material but because its connections to the games it is named after are fleeting at best. One critic argues that without two key name drops—Raccoon City and Umbrella—the film could be retitled anything and would make just as much sense, noting that the zombies are never explained as the result of the T-Virus and that Umbrella never feels like the omnipresent threat it is in the games.
“If not for 2 key name drops, Raccoon City, and Umbrella, the movie itself can genuinely be renamed into anything else and make about as much sense,” the fan writes. “If you call it The Thing 2 or Slither 2, you would believe it more than Resident Evil. The zombies in the movie are never explained to be caused by the T-Virus, Umbrella themselves feels like such a minor aspect that they are never really felt like an omni percent threat like in the games.”
Reddit user
The film’s comedy has been one of its most divisive elements. The Resident Evil games are occasionally funny in a campy way, but Cregger’s humor is constant, pressing the gas on Bryan’s exasperated attitude toward the absurdity around him. Some viewers felt this dampened the tension, describing the film as more gross and tense than actively scary.
An Ending That Divides the Fanbase
The film’s conclusion has ruffled feathers even more than its tone. Midway through, Bryan is bitten by an infected child and begins succumbing to the same infection that plagues the monsters he is fighting. This gives him a reason to press on with his delivery, which is revealed to contain the last component scientists need to create a cure. When he reaches his destination and a cure is nearly complete, he begins transforming into a monster and kills every scientist who could have saved the world. The film ends with Bryan losing all his humanity and being gunned down by helicopters atop the hospital, after a personal arc about responsibility and wanting a future for himself and his pregnant girlfriend, Michelle.
“I absolutely loved the film, and it really did feel like it captured the Resident Evil essence, but the ending was such a shame,” a fan says. “Bryan’s character went through so much growth in his survival skills and through near-death experiences, making him realise he wants to be a father. All that just for him to be killed off so abruptly was just so disappointing.”
Reddit user
Some viewers interpret the transformation very differently, viewing Bryan’s metamorphosis as a deliberate, if morbid, thematic endpoint. Chris Lambert of FilmColossus argues that the bite from the little girl—echoed earlier in the film when Bryan voices his fear of the baby changing him—makes the transformation a literal representation of Bryan “growing up,” reframing the tragedy as intentional rather than gratuitous.
“I think a lot of people will chalk Bryan’s conversion into the monster as a tragic ending. But I’m not sure it is,” Lambert writes. “What then happens at the very end? Bryan’s still trying to prevent change by trying to get the antidote. But the bite from the kid causes the transformation… And the result is Bryan quite literally growing up.”
Chris Lambert, FilmColossus
Looking Ahead
The debate over Cregger’s film ultimately circles back to a long-running tension in the video game industry: the fear that Hollywood treats games as IP to be pillaged rather than worlds to be respected. Whether fans believe the film captures the uniquely Resident Evil quality that defines the franchise for its community—beyond recognizable faces and proper nouns—will likely be the real measure of its legacy as more audiences see it in theaters. For now, the film stands as a genuine, if polarizing, entry in the series, one that proves a good adaptation is not always about delivering fan service, but about capturing a feeling.
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