Zach Cregger’s 2026 Resident Evil film takes an original route through the franchise rather than retelling a game plot or centering its iconic characters. That could sound like a risky choice for longtime fans. For Alix Blackburn, writing for Tom’s Guide on September 18, 2026, the surprise is that the departure still feels true to what makes the games work: being an ordinary person trying to survive in a hostile place.
An original story, not a plot-for-plot adaptation
The film is set in the present day during a heavy snowstorm. Austin Abrams plays Bryan, a medical courier who accepts extra pay to carry an important medical package urgently to Raccoon City. The film does not use the games’ iconic characters or revisit their rainy 1998 setting, according to Blackburn’s account.
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That choice puts the movie at odds with what some fans want from an adaptation: familiar protagonists and a recognizable game storyline. Blackburn describes that tension as part of the film’s reception, but her article is personal criticism, not a measurement of how fans overall responded.
Why Bryan feels like a Resident Evil protagonist
Bryan is not introduced as a seasoned hero. He is an ordinary person pulled into danger, and Blackburn reads his experience as a stand-in for the player’s: moving through threatening spaces, finding ammunition, upgrading weapons and trying to make it to the next location alive. The film may not reproduce a specific game’s plot, but its central situation evokes the practical rhythm of playing one.
#1 Best Overall
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That distinction matters. Faithfulness can mean more than recreating events or casting familiar characters. A story can also aim to reproduce the vulnerability, exploration and resource-conscious decision-making that define survival horror. Blackburn’s favorable response rests on that experiential resemblance rather than on a claim that the film is a direct adaptation.
The overlooked lives that make the game world feel real
Blackburn’s more unexpected connection is between Bryan and the people the games imply but rarely place at the center. Notes, recordings, abandoned rooms and personal belongings can suggest what happened to people who lived in a place before the player arrived. These fragments give the world a history beyond the main characters’ immediate mission.
Rank #2
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Seen that way, Bryan feels like the sort of person a player might otherwise encounter indirectly: someone whose story is discovered through traces left behind, rather than through a starring role in a familiar game plot. Making that kind of person the film’s protagonist shifts attention from the franchise’s established heroes to the ordinary lives caught up in its disasters.
What the film gets right—and where Blackburn’s enthusiasm stops
Blackburn points to the journey into Raccoon City, Easter eggs and shifts between first-person and over-the-shoulder perspectives as details that recall the games. They help the movie evoke their atmosphere without requiring a scene-by-scene retelling.
Rank #3
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Her praise is not unqualified. She says humor sometimes undercuts the horror and considers the third act the film’s weakest stretch. She also compares its original approach with 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which she views as a more faithful adaptation but judges less favorably. Those are Blackburn’s assessments, not an objective ranking of either film or the franchise.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Two ways to adapt a game franchise
| Approach | What it prioritizes | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Direct or highly faithful retelling | Established game plots, characters and recognizable story material. | Can offer fans familiar elements, while leaving less room to make an unrelated protagonist central. |
| Original story in the game’s world | New characters and events that aim to recreate the player’s experience and survival-horror atmosphere. | May disappoint viewers seeking familiar heroes or a specific game’s plot, even if its approach feels true to the games’ style. |
Blackburn favors the second approach for Cregger’s film because Bryan’s perspective connects the movie’s danger to the experience of playing and to the lives the games leave at the margins. Her conclusion is a case for one adaptation strategy, not proof that it will work for every fan or every franchise.
Quick Recap
Best Value
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- Survive on a Knife’s Edge – Years of intense training have taught Leon new ways to use his knife, helping to even the odds against the unrelenting onslaught of enemies. By parrying enemy attacks, you can avoid debilitating damage and evade lunging enemies seeking to grab Leon and hold him in place. Make smart use of scavenged knives to deliver precise finishing moves on vulnerable enemies, and even use the element of surprise to quietly dispatch unsuspecting foes before they break.
Rank #4
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