Everyone can have a rough night from time to time. For Bryan, the ill-fated lead of Resident Evil (the most recent adaptation of the iconic video game series), that turns out to be the case when he is asked to deliver a very sensitive package. Zach Cregger, who has rapidly proven himself to be a wunderkind of contemporary horror, is handed the keys to Raccoon City, and given free rein to do whatever he feels was necessary to revive a property that has been adapted several times before, but never in a way that actually pays appropriate tribute to the existing material – at least until now, since Cregger and co-writer Shay Hatten take the opportunity to push every conceivable boundary and as a result manage to make perhaps the first truly brilliant video game adaptation in the history of the medium, which is certainly not as hyperbolic as it sounds when we consider how it is arguably one of the most reviled genres. The story, as we alluded to, follows a young courier who is asked to make a delivery to a nearby hospital, which seems like a relatively simple task, despite it evidently being quite urgent and sensitive. It doesn’t take long for everything to spiral out of control for Bryan, who quickly realises something is amiss once he encounters a few questionable characters whose erratic behaviour starts to concern him, leading him to make the stark realisation that he is witnessing the very early stages of a catastrophic outbreak that has the potential to entirely destroy the world as he knows it, making his assignment more important than he initially realised. An absolutely brilliant blend of dark comedy, body horror and psychological thriller, Resident Evil is a staggering achievement, words I never imagined I would use to describe the eighth attempt to turn this material into something cohesive – but if there was anyone who deserves not only our trust, but our genuine appreciation for how he challenges the confines of his craft, it is Cregger, who is rapidly consolidating himself as one of our most daring and provocative auteurs.

One of the great literary genres that is present across many different media but most prominently in film is that of the “one crazy night” comedy, in which a character has a very specific goal and only a short amount of time to accomplish it, which is derailed by the arrival of a range of obstacles that ultimately stand in their way. Resident Evil finds Cregger flirting with this approach in a very interesting way, presenting us with a story that transpires over the course of a single evening, in which we follow the protagonist as he runs into one problem after another, each one being more deranged than the last, which is why it’s not unfathomable to view this as a horror version of After Hours, the absolute gold standard for this narrative structure. Part of the appeal of these stories is that we are inherently invested in characters who are given a clear goal – going back to antiquity, we see the quest narrative being one of the oldest forms of storytelling, and while it may seem like a slight over-extension of what this film is aiming to achieve, there is a very clear style and structure around which this film revolves that panders to our inherent fondness for these offbeat and unconventional stories. It goes in many unexpected directions, which is all part of the appeal, and we simply just love to see a character put through the wringer, forced to confront a number of increasingly absurd obstacles, but somehow always managing to scrape through nearly unscathed. The charm comes in how Cregger actually finds new ways to explore this subject without becoming too overly precious about what it all ultimately represents – in the hands of another less capable director, the idea of a virus that infects the human race and turns them into violent, brainless creatures would be fertile ground for a tacky commentary on pandemic culture, something that Cregger avoids at all costs, choosing instead to embrace a far more unconventional approach, and ultimately creating a film that benefits immensely from his more captivating style of storytelling.

The reason why Resident Evil works so well comes from the fact that Cregger is actively trying to do something new with absolutely every element of the film. Far too many video game adaptations falter because they attempt to replicate the same feeling that comes when playing one of these games, rather than actually understanding that audiences don’t just want to see as close an approximation of that process as they do something that entertains in more ways than just following the same trite conventions. The director is instead focused on crafting a film that moves at a steady pace and only uses the original video games as a reference rather than the overall set of guidelines. This allows those of us who have limited experience with this franchise to actually enjoy it tremendously (since the overuse of inside jokes and deep references often proves to make these films far too restrictive) and additionally makes the overall experience far more dynamic and compelling than we may have initially expected. Something that we have found often in a lot of the director’s work is that he tends to be gleeful in his desire to stretch the limits of reality in unexpectedly challenging and unconventional ways, and Resident Evil adopts his elastic logic, both narratively and visually. Cregger’s roots as a comedian are scattered throughout all of his films, and much like Barbarian and Weapons, we can easily read Resident Evil as a pitch-black comedy, a highly unorthodox and deeply unhinged blend of dark humour and body horror, the kind that would make any master of the medium blush in delight (whether or not he was inspired by the works of John Carpenter and David Cronenberg is not officially clear, but there are certainly enough overtures to consider them somewhat influences, at least aesthetically), filled to the brim with the most repulsive and deranged imagery of the past few years, the kind of grotesque and off-the-wall humour that is as perverse as it is delightfully entertaining, taking us on a thrilling journey that begins as a bundle of pure energy and continues to fire on all cylinders from that point onwards.

While his previous film was the definition of an ensemble, we find that Cregger goes in the complete opposite direction here, with Resident Evil being essentially a one-man show that includes occasional brief appearances from other actors in very small roles, usually appearing on screen for a couple of minutes before exiting the story, usually in the most delightfully deranged way possible. The role of Bryan, the ill-fated courier who is tasked with essentially saving the human race without even realising needed someone with the skill to not only tackle the intimidating physical requirements of the film, but also handle the many different tonal shifts. Cregger reunites with Austin Abrams, an actor who has been circling around having a major breakthrough for a little while, and now seems poised to have a banner year, this being the centrepiece in what is likely going to be the moment he establishes himself as a true star. Every moment he is on screen feels like a small revelation – somehow, he takes this very simple character and transforms him into someone far deeper and more unconventional than anyone could have actually imagined, holding our attention and commanding the screen in a way that is nothing if not completely and utterly bewitching. We don’t often come across a young actor who is so profoundly committed to an absurd premise that it becomes almost part of the film’s identity, and the dedication that Abrams demonstrates throughout Resident Evil is absolutely extraordinary, understanding the assignment and working closely with Cregger to bring this deranged concept to life in as meaningful a way as possible. Small parts by Paul Walter Hauser, Kali Reiss and Zach Cherry round out the film, since while they aren’t on screen for terribly long, they each bring something unique to the story, being some of the eccentric supporting players that Bryan encounters on his journey, all of them somehow both clarifying and complicating what should’ve been a far easier assignment than he initially expected. This all becomes the foundation for an exhilarating series of moments that only grow in brilliance as the film gradually and methodically progresses into something much deeper and more engaging.

It’s not very often that we find a director emerging and having their first three films all be astonishing works that represent the absolute best that the genre has to offer, and at this point there’s very little reason to resist the idea of Cregger being amongst the most gifted horror auteurs working today. Barbarian was an ambitious debut, and Weapons a brilliant continuation of his very clear interest in merging the boundaries between horror and satirical commentary. However, it’s Resident Evil that proves that he is truly here to stay, and that everything he does going forward will be a priority viewing for anyone who has any interest in the craft and its most visionary voices. Cregger seems poised to redefine the industry – the idea of “elevated horror” has become so hackneyed to the point where it is almost insulting, since it creates division between supposedly more intellectual, socially-conscious use of the genre, and those that exist purely to give the audience an entertaining experience. It’s ultimately not all that surprising that we find that he exists at the perfect intersection between the two, having a clear understanding of issues much deeper than we would expect, but also somehow delivering stellar work that feels like it isn’t preaching at the audience, which is a very important quality that we simply cannot overlook by any means. There’s truly something so beguiling about what Cregger is doing to draw the viewer in, taking us on quite an unconventional journey into the trials and tribulations of a young man who finds himself surrounded by destruction, and where his tenacity (and frankly, his complete fear) causes him to constantly push forward, regardless of the cost. It’s enthralling, captivating filmmaking that is never anything less than masterful, a deft blend of so many different ideas handcrafted by a filmmaker with a deep sincerity and undeniable appreciation for issues much deeper than we may have anticipated. Resident Evil may be one of the most surprising horror films of the year, since not only is it enthralling, but it is also exceptionally well-made and deeply engaging, in a way that doesn’t make it anything less than a wholehearted masterpiece in both concept and execution.