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Written by: Zach Cregger & Shay Hatten
Directed by: Zach Cregger
Starring: Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Houser
Rated: R
Plot
A hapless courier tasked with delivering a package to a remote hospital soon finds himself caught in the middle of an outbreak and must fight through hordes of mutated creatures to survive.
Verdict
Despite being horror, or even because of it, this movie is a lot of fun. It expertly creates these intense moments while dividing them with moments of humor. It allows the audience a chance to recover before diving right back into the tension. The protagonist is thrown into a dangerous situation, his commentary providing running thoughts on the events. That consists of mostly fear and shock, which is completely understandable. This is a regular person in an extraordinary situation. The pacing and escalation is perfect with the full scope of the issue slowly revealing itself during the run time as we get closer to Racoon City. So many scenes are a class on how to build tension and a setup for scares. Few horror movies manage to balance horror and humor so well. I loved this from the beginning, and it never falters.
Watch It.
Review
This is Cregger's follow up to Weapons (2025) after his break out Barbarian (2022). This is the eighth movie based on the Capcom Resident Evil video game. The movie franchise started in 2002 with the seventh movie being a reboot in 2021.
This trades on the Resident Evil franchise name, which taps into an existing fan base, but this lacks a direct connection. It does fine standing on its own as it's one of the few movies that I wanted to watch again as soon as the credits started. This can be incredibly intense, but it also has moment of levity that makes it even funnier amid the terror. I was frequently impressed with the choices made in the film. It's well done.
This begins with a medical courier, Bryan (Austin Abrams), at the end of his shift. He's just dropped off an organ for transplant, and he's trying to find the recipient as well as then getting a sign off. Both prove more difficult that you might expect. Just as he's about to leave, he's solicited for one more delivery. He refuses until he's told it pays double because he has to get it all the way to Racoon City. It's not much background for the protagonist, but it's enough.
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| Austin Abrams plays Bryan |
Bryan is driving in the dark on an icy, wooded road while talking to his girlfriend on the phone as the car tries to maintain traction. You know something is going to happen on the road. This does a great job of drawing you in and cranking anticipation to the maximum. When the moment arrives, Bryan is shocked, we're shocked, and the question is what's next. Bryan has more than one encounter on this road, though I don't want to spoil it. He ends up in the dark, trying to render aid. That soon becomes afraid of what might be lurking around him in the darkness. He obtains a gun, which is more comic relief than is typical for this genre. A series of events lead him to a nearby farmhouse. This does a great job with pacing and escalation as it slowly builds to the end.
At the farmhouse, frequent wide shots show the flashing lights in the background to provide a sense of space, emphasizing how Bryan's isolated. It's at the farm house that Bryan realizes something is seriously wrong. Throughout the movie we're privy to his running commentary. His reactions are often comical, refusing to engage in a dangerous situation or frustrated that nothing is going his way. Movies have conditioned us to expect the protagonist to jump right in and save the day. Bryan doesn't want to be in the middle of this. He's just a regular guy trying to survive an outrageous situation. A lot of this is him trying to get away and encountering obstacles, both environmental and monster as well as several padlocks.
Bryan ends up near Racoon City, and as he gets closer he thinks he's saved. We're introduced to Maxine (Kali Reis), the security. She's trained for this. The movie shows us it's better to be lucky than good when dealing with monsters. Bryan also learns what he's transporting is vital to stopping the monsters. He was a backup, but now he's the only plan. Bryan ends up in the sewer, and that's a great sequence as it builds to a monster, but my favorite scene might be next as Bryan finds himself walking along the street towards the hospital. He's soon running for his life. It's amazing not just because of what happens, but also what's built to this scene and even the camera work. With so many scenes this movie manages to impart to the audience exactly what it wants.
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| Austin Abrams plays Bryan |
Bryan gets to the hospital, on the verge of giving up as the hospital seems overrun. He gets one more push to get to the top of the hospital where the lab is located. Throughout this movie, Bryan has told anyone he's encountered he's not a gun person. His fumbling only proves that. It's funny, but lends a sense of realism to the genre where so many movies depict everyone as experts. Even the one gun person he sees doesn't fare well.
Down to the final sequence, I wasn't sure where this would go. We know the stakes both large and small scale, but that doesn't help answer how this ends.
This movie is well crafted. The direction and camera work, like the first person shots, have to be a call out to the game, though it's not intrusive. I'm not sure I've seen a horror movie that manages to be so humorous. It's a result of building the tension and allowing for a release before setting us up again. It's a fun ride from beginning to end, full of scares, gore, and quite a bit of humor. With each scene, it's clear the writers and director know exactly what they're doing.
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