New Resident Evil Movie Trailer Looks Like Generic Horror And Feels Nothing Like Resident Evil
Posted by Jennifer Asencio | Published
Fans of the Resident Evil franchise have had plenty of video games and several movies to satisfy their appetite. The iconic Alice, played by Milla Jovovich, appeared in five movies between 2002 and 2016, and the sixth movie was a prequel that explored the origins of the mansion she woke up in in the first movie. Now, there’s a new movie in the franchise, and it doesn’t look like the others.
The film simply has a title Resident Evil and will likely cause both it and the first film to be henceforth referred to with their release years included in their titles. According to IMDb, it’s about a young courier named Bryan (Austin Abrams) whose cargo is on its way to a mysterious, desolate, and deserted place. A teaser trailer was released on May 1, 2026, and it promised both action and horror as Bryan’s world suddenly and dangerously changed overnight.
The trailer is a short film of his own, interspersed with a phone call from Bryan to a nameless girlfriend he had a fight with, but is now trying to tell her one last time that he loves her. 911 is busy, which is already a shame. Everything is dark, the house is abandoned, there is still a problem on the road.
Alone, he searches the house for supplies as he finds himself being followed by zombie-like mutants. He’s forced to return to the city (is it Raccoon City? The trailer doesn’t say) while surviving a variety of terrifying, deviant monsters that may have once been human but no longer exist, he walks through snow, explores cavernous tunnels, and escapes from his terrifying pursuers down desolate streets until he reaches the heart of the city. Viewers only find one way out of town, but things are changing and zombies are raining as Bryan tries to escape.
There is a lot of criticism of the trailer saying “it’s not Resident Evil,” and there is merit to this complaint. The other Resident Evil movies were very scary, while this one looks like straight-up horror. There are no familiar characters like Alice, Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, or the STARS team. Even many of the scary monsters are different from those in other movies and games. There are no signs of the Licentious Umbre Corporation.
WHAT IS “Citizen Evil” about it’s survival horror feature. Fans of horror movies and shows will appreciate Bryan’s foraging and exploring around the house to gather the things he needs to protect himself and survive. These items include things like car keys, random guns with portable ammunition lying around, “medical supplies” like Band-aids or food. Survival horror fans will be excited about Bryan’s adventures, but the released trailer doesn’t make any obvious connections to the source material, a fact that has upset quite a few fans. And they’re not complaining that it’s not a good looking movie, just that it’s not a movie from a popular franchise.
However, the film has a brand of horror recognition in the form of Zach Cregger, who is coming off the success of the acclaimed film. A barbarian and winning an Oscar Weapons. Cregger wrote both of those movies in addition to directing them, and, while he had help from writer Shay Hatten, he certainly proved his mettle as a great horror director. Hatten’s presence should comfort fans worried that it’s not an action movie, either, because he’s the brain behind the last three John Wick, Wick-adjacent, sequels. Ballerinaand Zack Snyder Army of the Dead movies.
So, for people who are worried that this movie doesn’t have the feel of the Resident Evil franchise, I can only say: just wait. Remember that a franchise isn’t just about existing fans; and in terms of drawing new fans, and to do that, franchises have to constantly reinvent themselves, or become dry and predictable, like the MCU. This is only the first trailer and it only represents about two minutes of the movie’s runtime. Resident Evil it’s a horror franchise at its core, and I hope Zach Cregger doesn’t kill its strong momentum by delivering a film that alienates fans, no matter how different this first trailer may seem from the source material.
Resident Evil will be in theaters on September 18, 2026. Catch it before the infection spreads.
