A new era of evil has arrived – and if this first teaser is anything to go by, Resident Evil is being dragged back into the shadows where it arguably belongs.
Directed by Zach Cregger, the filmmaker behind Weapons, this reinvention of the long-running franchise looks less interested in bombastic action and more committed to sustained dread. The teaser leans hard into atmosphere: dimly lit spaces, fractured glimpses of violence, and the kind of creeping unease that defined Cregger’s breakout horror success. If previous Resident Evil adaptations often tilted toward spectacle, this one feels far more intimate – and far more unsettling.
At the centre of the story is Bryan, played by Austin Abrams, a medical courier who becomes trapped in a rapidly unravelling nightmare over the course of a single night. It’s a premise that suggests urgency and containment – a pressure-cooker scenario where survival hinges not on firepower, but on instinct. The teaser hints at a world collapsing in real time, with flashes of chaos that feel disorienting rather than explanatory, a deliberate choice that favours tension over exposition.
What’s most striking is the tonal shift. Cregger appears to be stripping Resident Evil back to its horror roots, embracing stillness, darkness, and the fear of what might be lurking just out of frame. There’s a confidence in what’s withheld – a sense that the film understands the power of suggestion in a way many modern franchise entries often overlook.
If the teaser is any indication, Resident Evil isn’t just being rebooted when it arrives in Australian theatres on September 17th this year, it’s being reimagined with a filmmaker who knows how to weaponise fear
