A Perfect Example of a Gamified Movie

This movie is just so much fun. It feels like a survival horror game brought to life as a film, and honestly, it feels like something that could only have been made by someone who is a truly seasoned gamer.

Every location in the film feels like a progressively unfolding game level: from the mountain roads to the village, then the tunnels, city streets, sewers, hospital, and finally the laboratory. It basically follows the structure of a complete video game campaign.

Even the weapons are introduced progressively. You start with a handgun, then get a shotgun, and eventually unlock a submachine gun.

The pathogen itself is also incredibly imaginative. It feels like it combines abilities from various pathogens across the series, including elements from the fourth, second, and eighth games. By this point, it is practically overpowered, and it even starts to feel like the movie is moving into Alien territory.

The film is also extremely darkly funny. The absurdity is apparent from the very beginning, when the protagonist puts a zombie in the passenger seat of his car. For some reason, that immediately reminded me of Shaun of the Dead. Later, the protagonist’s constant complaining and panicked reactions are even funnier. What’s impressive is that these comedic moments never really undermine the overall atmosphere. The director’s ability to balance the two is genuinely impressive.

Beyond the environmental details and Easter eggs, there are also plenty of game mechanics cleverly integrated into the actual story. Things like locks that are seemingly impossible to open, locks that can be blown apart with a single handgun shot, all kinds of areas that are tantalizingly close yet somehow inaccessible, and a powerful enemy that stalks the protagonist throughout the entire film.

The ending, however, once again goes for an absurdist twist, much like the director’s previous film, Murder Weapon. Whether it works will probably depend on the viewer, but personally, I didn’t think it worked particularly well. It felt as though the ending took some of the momentum and weight out of the film’s overall tone.