Tag: zach-cregger

Resident Evil (2026)

  • Director: Zach Cregger
  • Screenplay: Zach Cregger, Shay Hatten
  • Based on: ‘Resident Evil‘ by Capcom
  • Producer: Robert Kulzer, Zach Cregger, Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, Carter Swan, Asad Qizilbash
  • Cast: Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser
  • Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski
  • Editing: Joe Murphy
  • Score: Hays Holladay, Ryan Holladay
  • Genre: Horror
  • Runtime: 95 minutes

‘Resident Evil‘ is a reboot done right. There’s no lore dumps, no prior homework required to catch up. The Umbrella Corporation is namechecked but it’s not important to know who they are if you decide to watch. No Alice. Or Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy, Claire or Chris Redfield. A tabula rasa from which Zach Cregger (last year’s ‘Weapons‘) can work on.

Instead, we have amiable medical courier Bryan (Austin Abrams) as our protagonist. He’s tasked with delivering precious cargo to Raccoon City. The journey there is fraught with jeopardy. Driving on icy backroads late at night, Bryan accidentally hits a woman with his vehicle. She’s not quite dead. Not quite human either. A lone cop gets involved in the situation and things don’t pan out well for him.

Dariusz Wolski’s cinematography creates a spooky setting; the red tint of Bryan’s car windows signalling danger, the crisp, white snow of a wintry woodland, the flashing lights of the overturned police car alternating blue and red. Poor Bryan is in the middle of nowhere and after the first mutant attack, can’t believe his eyes. He’s in for a great deal of grotesqueness.

When he reaches his destination of the hellish Raccoon City, we’re in for much blood-splattered exhilaration. There’s jump scares aplenty so the comedy moments peppered throughout help to relieve the tension.

A seed is planted at the conclusion though the roots haven’t grown. No writhing tendrils to latch onto an unpromised future. A wise move. I do hope to see more of this universe one day, with any backstory included at a steady rate.

My rating: 8 / 10

Weapons (2025)

  • Director: Zach Cregger
  • Screenplay: Zach Cregger
  • Cast: Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan
  • Cinematography: Larkin Seiple
  • Editing: Joe Murphy
  • Score: Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay, Zach Cregger
  • Genre: Mystery horror
  • Runtime: 128 minutes

At exactly 2:17am, 17 children up and leave their respective houses and scarper into the night, leaving their parents bereft. And full of questions. Where did they disappear to? These kids left of their own volition – this isn’t a cut and dry abduction. The way they’re running is odd too: arms outstretched as if they’re pretending to be fighter jets. All 17 belonged to the same class at school, taught by Ms. Justine Gandy (Julia Garner). Except one boy didn’t flee by foot: Alex, who claims not to know the whereabouts of his classmates.

Justine becomes the town pariah, understandably so, unfair as it may seem. A month after the incident, a community meeting takes place where she unsuccessfully attempts to cool tempers of frantic parents. Her car is vandalised: ‘witch’ is scrawled across it. Could she really be responsible?

‘Weapons‘ is divided into chapters, each from a different character’s point of view. As the portions pass, the enigma begins to unravel. Justine’s story is first; we see her processing the situation by drinking and hooking up with her married ex-boyfriend (Alden Ehrenreich). Then comes Archer (Josh Brolin), grieving father of a young son, who actively seeks an answer to the disappearances (doing a better job than the police certainly). Next: Paul (Justine’s ex, a cop), James (a petty burglar), Marcus (the school principal) and Alex (the boy at the centre of the whole thing).

Good performances from Garner, Brolin and Ehrenreich as flawed characters and an eerie atmosphere keep you sufficiently curious. There’s a couple of jump scares thrown in to maintain the horror levels and some strangely comedic moments courtesy of Alex’s wacky Aunt Gladys but ‘Weapons‘ is a genuinely intriguing mystery in every sense of the word.

My rating: 7 / 10