Resident Evil 2026 - You Absolutely Can Still Make Movies Like This

I'm not that interested in reviewing the latest cinema releases because movies need time to digest for me, several viewings to fully settle, and culture and conversation around the movie to die down. I'm more of a fan of cool analysis than hot takes.

Having said that, I saw Resident Evil last night and wanted to put down some initial, moderately unstructured thoughts out into the world so I have a reference point to revisit once the discussion dies down and I'm ready for a revisit.

If you're worried about spoilers, read my review on Letterboxd, but tl;dr: go watch it, it's a lot of fun.

The story, in its simplest terms, is about a man having a bad day that keeps getting worse. In fact, the entire movie, every scene and act, is about an escalation from the previous. It might be playing with a gaming genre convention (the levels get harder and more elaborate as you go on) but it's delightful to see recreated on screen and there is a clear line connecting that first grounded and real conversation to the chaotic, removed from mundane reality of the final image of the film.

Here's my initial #HorrorHotTake:

1. Cregger might be a writer first, but he has an incredible eye for visuals. There are some incredible images throughout this and the horror scenes play out like a well constructed joke: set up the premise, build up the tension, deliver the punchline. I'd love to see how much of the visual is in the original story script vs. shooting script. He's a far more versatile and dynamic visual director than I had realised.
2. Give me more movies that are under 100 minutes. This thing flies and each scene propels the plot forward. I left wanting more, not feeling like I needed a break.
3. This feels like a John Carpenter movie in the best possible way. Not just the synth soundtrack/scape, but the unpretentious craftmanship of a professional set out to entertain through the medium of genre filmmaking.
4. The structure of the film is like watching Alien and Aliens back to back: the first half is a horror movie, the second is an action movie but it feels cohesive and set in the same universe.
5. The finale doesn't quite deliver the same way the rest of the movie does, in part because the constant escalation prevents a clean end for both the characters and a plot, the latter taking priority to set up the video game world end state at a slight cost to the former.
6. The main antagonist is a Katamari Damacy meatball from hell.
7. The protagonist is the definition of "Low Intelligence, High (or, well, Medium) Wisdom". He's a dumbass, but lovable because he does try to do the right thing by people and he can be clever when cornered. He's also not strictly a good guy, but that doesn't make him a bad guy.
8. Finally, the amount of trigger warnings for this film is not insignificant. Stephen King has said in interviews he received more shit for killing animals than he ever did for killing people. A general rule for horror (movies) is that you don't hurt kids either. This movie kills kids (and babies), not to mention an elderly couple and their dog. It's as if though Cregger is staring the right-wing chuds and culture warriors in the eye and daring them to call the movie "woke" when it's full of the things that these media illiterate idiots keep saying wouldn't be released if made today. "Edgy" content, whether horror or comedy, works because it's rooted in empathy. Cregger rides that line and it doesn't feel cruel or exploitative, just horrific and sad.

Zach Cregger is 3 for 3 and I am here for #4.