Zach Cregger’s “Resident Evil” reboot is a triumph of small-scale storytelling … until it isn’t.
The “Weapons” director proves he’s a name to reckon with by making a tired franchise feel fresh and new. And bloody. Oh, so bloody.
Cregger takes liberties with the source material – a popular video game franchise and B-movie series starring Milla Jovovich. No matter. The result is the most engaging 95 minutes you’ll savor all year.
A strong Austin Abrams stars as Bryan, a courier stuck at work at a pivotal moment. He just found out his girlfriend may be pregnant, and he’s not sure what to think about it.
First, he’ll have to head into snowy weather to deliver an organ to an awaiting hospital in Raccoon City. It won’t be easy. His compact car isn’t equipped for slick roads.
That’s not his only problem.
He hits a woman along the path, but she’s neither dead nor quite alive. It’s the start of a crazed survival story pitting a young man against forces he can’t even imagine, let alone control.
The less said, the better, to maintain the full sense of surprise.
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Cregger is telling a simple story in the first, bravua act, but every element that could work in his favor does. The injured woman is flat-out frightening. Bryan’s quest gets more challenging at every step, with Cregger’s camera making the most of each incoming peril.
And that’s before the story expands to cover the larger threat, one that ties to the “Resident Evil” saga.
Abrams’s Bryan is a slacker of the first order, but his obscene mutterings belie his survival chops. He’s the Everyman’s Everyman, and his performance anchors a film that could have slid off the rails.
Cregger is wallowing in the B-movie trenches, and, to paraphrase Maxwell Smart, “loving it.” He understands the genre demands a copious amount of comic relief, which he and his team deliver. Plus, the genre craves elaborate kills, imaginative threats and genuine scares.
One particular fright had this critic all but jumping out of his chair. It’s brilliantly conceived, as if Cregger were not just a director but a magician adept at misdirection.
Bravo!
“Resident Evil” gets slightly less interesting as it veers into the franchise’s DNA. Now, the story is sillier and more formulaic, but the intensity never wavers.
Nor does the story’s robust sense of dark whimsy.
Zach Cregger on not including any of the characters from the video games in his #ResidentEvil movie. pic.twitter.com/xYHaNlVGSJ
— Variety (@Variety) September 16, 2026
Paul Walter Hauser offers up an amusing cameo, embracing the film’s grindhouse ethos.
If “Resident Evil” has an overriding flaw, it’s a tad exhausting. There’s little time for audiences to catch their breath, and a third-act emotional chord is played expertly, but it still feels malnourished.
The film’s efficient 95 minute running time helps. No filler. No fat. Just genre goodness.
“Weapons” proved Cregger could create an old-school horror teeming with rich characters and awards-season craftsmanship. “Resident Evil” finds him leaning into his genre impulses, knowing precisely how to push our buttons.
It’s silly, tacky and the opposite of Oscar-bait storytelling. But who’s complaining?
He may have reignited a franchise, but unless he returns behind the camera, the new installments will undoubtedly pale in comparison.
HiT or Miss: 4 out of 5 stars
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Runtime: 95 minutes
Where to Watch: In Theaters Sept. 18
Family Friendly? No! Extreme violence, adult language and gore(R)