‘Resident Evil’ (2026) review: It’s painful to be an NPC in Raccoon City

Resident Evil (2026), directed by Zach Cregger, is a gritty hour-and-a-half-long experience. But unlike any previous movie based on the Capcom games, the story follows a main character who is, quite literally, an NPC in the world of Resident Evil.

Bryan (Austin Abrams), a courier, wades through a packed hospital to deliver an urgent package. Just as he’s about to clock out after a long day’s work, Bryan receives an offer for a special delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital with double pay. Unable to resist the offer, Bryan agrees to the job and drives up the snowy Colorado mountains with his beat-up sedan. While he and his girlfriend, Michelle, are talking over the phone about a tense subject, the signal fizzles out. Moments later, Bryan accidentally runs over a strange woman who had emerged from the treeline.

From that point on, Bryan’s delivery goes south. He learns that the woman is infected with an unspecified virus from an Umbrella Corporation laboratory. Proceeding to Raccoon City, Bryan stumbles through every familiar horror from the Resident Evil series—while simultaneously learning how to operate a gun (and failing multiple times).

Bryan isn’t a special clone that escaped a lab like Alice from Resident Evil (2002). He most certainly isn’t a Division of Security Operations agent like Leon Kennedy. From the start, Cregger’s Resident Evil portrays Bryan as insignificant, despite his role as the protagonist.

A below-average Resident Evil protagonist

As early as the opening scene, Bryan keeps searching for the recipient of the package, only to be ignored by the staff. When the doctor takes the package from Bryan, he doesn’t even do Bryan the honor of signing the proof of delivery. Even the front desk refuses to sign for the package. The lack of acknowledgement follows Bryan through the movie.

If Leon Kennedy had been the one to handle this package, he wouldn’t have been ignored. Of course, that’s part of Leon’s charm as the protagonist in both the game and the movie, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. But Bryan is far from the highly charismatic characters from the previous movies. Moreover, he has no fighting experience, which is painfully evident throughout the movie. Bryan can’t do those fancy flying kicks any of the in-game characters can. At best, he’s an average gamer who is thrown into apocalyptic Raccoon City for a grunt job.

Perhaps the only plot armor Bryan has is his ability to complete the delivery amid falling and mutated zombies. He may have stumbled through the course of his journey, but he survives long enough to fulfill his role. Arguably, it’s impressive enough that he does all this without accidentally shooting himself in the foot with a shotgun.

Even those from the lab commend Bryan for reaching their office amid the chaos in the city streets. But even though Bryan successfully delivers the package, which apparently contained the antidote to the T-Virus, he would once again be ignored and dismissed after fulfilling his role.

A different perspective from the beloved Capcom franchise

The movie pays homage to the games by putting in familiar monsters, like the Fat Molded, notorious for barfing acid, an abundance of the classic split-faced monsters of the Las Plagas strain, and so much more. From these monsters alone, it’s clear that this horror-action movie is still a part of the Resident Evil universe. There are also small Easter eggs, like Heavy Field Buckshot ammo for shotguns, that give a nod to the games. From Bryan’s civilian perspective, however, dealing with these monsters is terrifying—if not darkly comedic because of his inexperience.

But this wouldn’t be a Resident Evil movie or game without the main character letting out an incoherent string of expletives because of the terrible situation they’ve found themselves in. Perhaps that’s one thing Bryan shares with the other characters, along with his unyielding determination. The movie is gritty, raw, and hilarious. Moreover, it gives a painfully realistic view of what it’s like to be an average person in the Resident Evil universe. While it’s definitely not the average Resident Evil movie, that in itself is what makes it worth watching for any fan of the game.

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]