When it comes to video games, Resident Evil is probably my favorite series of all time. I remember skipping my afternoon classes one day back in 1996, when a friend said he had the game, so we went back to his house to check it out. Ever since then, I have bought every game, collected tons of merch, and of course, watched all of the movies.

Where to Watch Resident Evil

Resident Evil was released on September 18, 2026. You can stream the film from a digital platforms such as Prime Video or Apple TV.

The Movie Review

I was actually pretty excited when I heard that Zach Cregger was taking a stab at Resident Evil. I loved his previous movies, Barbarian and Weapons, and I was excited to see what he could do with the Resident Evil franchise. Before I saw a trailer or knew too much about it, I watched all six of the Mila Jovovic Resident Evil movies as well as Welcome to Raccoon City.

You know what, those Mila Jovovic Resident Evil movies are a lot of fun; the only one I did not like was Extinction, but I had a blast with the campy and over-the-top nature of the original Resident Evil movies. Then we had Welcome to Raccoon City, which was its own thing and packed with just a ton of fan service, and apart from what they did to Leon in making him a moron, I did not hate the movie.

The thing is, Welcome to Raccoon City tanked at the box office, and that movie tried super hard to appeal to fans of the games by packing in a ton of elements, so many that the movie kind of suffered as a result. So when I heard that Zach Cregger was going to be doing his own thing with Resident Evil, I thought that it made sense, given how the last movie, which tried to lean super heavy on the fan service, flopped at the box office.

Then we got the first trailer. I remember watching that trailer, and at first I thought it was cool that Austin Abrams was the lead, but when the trailer came to an end, I wondered what exactly did this have to do with Resident Evil? Once the credits started to roll, I still wondered the same thing and felt that the movie could have been called something else and it would not have changed a single thing!

Now, you may think I am about to go on a tirade about how I did not like the movie, but that is not the case; I actually had a fun time watching this. Austin Abrams plays the role of a medical delivery courier called Bryan, and he is tasked with getting a special package to Raccoon City. I really like Austin Abrams, and he does a great job of playing your average Joe who is thrown into an anything-but-average situation.

You pretty much get the entire setup for the movie from the trailer. Bryan hits a woman on his way there, and then the night just goes from bad to worse as he starts to encounter people who have been infected by something. There is no mention of the T-Virus or anything like that. We have Raccoon City and Umbrella, and that is it as far as the story elements go. I can see why some people would be disappointed.

However, there are certainly Resident Evil elements at play here. The way that he finds the gun, the shotgun shells, and a few other little nods here and there are things that fans of the games will get a kick out of. While there is not much here to tie it to the Resident Evil games at all. The more I have thought about it, the more I actually liked the movie, and I feel that the story told here could have been some kind of spin-off or even the basis for a story in a Resident Evil game.

As well as the lack of Resident Evil in the movie, the main complaint I have heard is that the movie has forced humor; I honestly never picked up on this at all. I found the bits of humor that were here were done pretty well and helped make Bryan seem more like a normal guy. As a Resident Evil movie, I can see why some may not love this, but as a horror movie, it is a fun time and a movie that I am actually pretty excited to see again as the more I have thought about it, the more elements I have come to appreciate.