September 19 2026, 11:50
Resident Evil (2026)
Medical courier Bryan takes an extra job at the end of the night to get an emergency bag to the general hospital in Racoon City. It’s snowy and dark, and on the road through the mountains he hits a woman who is infected with something... nasty. Stuck in a remote wilderness, Bryan has to get to Raccoon City with his medical bag, which is more important than he knows.
I'm surprised two of the horror video game adaptations that have come out this year have been about young men wrestling with the possibility of becoming a father. Whereas Exit 8 plays it straight, Resident Evil is very much a horror comedy, and I laughed quite a bit. There are plenty of jump scares, and one in a farmhouse actually made me shout out loud, which is something Bryan does a lot of too, along with cursing, whimpering, squealing and screaming. Simple things are hard. Padlocks won’t break. Gates won’t open. Cars won’t start. Guns won’t fire. We watch Bryan learn how to do things that in other films would happen more naturally. He’s like someone playing a video game for the first time and working out the mechanics as he goes.
On a side note, I don’t like the mechanics of the Resident Evil games. I’ve tried to play more than one a few times, but I get too frustrated with the aiming of the gun. Maybe I’m not using the right console or controller. The vibe and stories fascinate me though.
The source idea — a shadowy corporation working in secret labs to create bioweapons that are accidentally released on the population of a remote city causing monstrous chaos — is a generic enough sandbox to let directors and writers to let come up with many different stories and characters (and even genres — I’ve enjoyed all the Milla Jovovich films, which are nothing like the video games (and made over a billion dollars)). The source idea is also specific enough to always mark the stories as being in a Resident Evil world. The threat of greedy corporations and ambitious scientists being unethical in a rush to make money feels real and ever-present. Story-wise, it seems to never get old.
Zach Cregger has come up with a fresh perspective on a thirty-year-old franchise. It’s a true rollercoaster ride, fast paced and thrilling, but knowing when to slow at the corners to give just enough time to think about what just happened before throwing you into the next gloopy set piece. It’s one of those rare films this year where I really want to go again.
All films in #ShadesofAutumn2026...
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