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Rating: 3 out of 5
Video game movies are either a hit or a miss. Most of the time, they are MAJOR misses. I’m looking at you, Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, House of the Dead, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, and so many others. Damn, video game movies can suck major ass a lot of the time. For every decent video game movie that ranks higher than 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, there are five that should be thrown in the trash.
One of the newest entries to the video game movie world is Until Dawn. The first time I heard about this film was when I watched KSI do his playthrough. It was fascinating with the wendigos and everything else. The second time I watched it was from my favorite YouTuber, Jacksepticeye. Jacksepticeye compares every interactive game to this game. Until Dawn is an interactive drama and survival horror game that can be played on the PlayStation. The gamer controls eight teenagers who return to Blackwood Mountain a year after their friends disappeared during a prank gone wrong. “It’s just a prank, Han.” Shit goes down in the game where the characters must survive………Until Dawn. The game is known for its butterfly effect system, where the player’s decisions alter the character’s interactions and story. Throughout the game, depending on the choices made, characters can either survive or face a brutal death. Once again, shit gets real, and it is highly enjoyable. The game does an outstanding job with character building, story, and ensuring that the choices one makes have real consequences. I think it is the best interactive choice game behind the first The Walking Dead Game. That game was on another level.
When I saw the commercial for this film, I immediately thought it was going to be shit. It looked like shit. I even attended the 2025 WonderCon in Anaheim, and one of the panels featured the cast and director of this film. Even sitting at the panel, I thought it was going to be a flop because it didn’t seem like the game. It was a film that repeats the day over and over. Ultimately, I dismissed the film. One evening, I was browsing through Netflix, and “Until Dawn” was one of the recommended movies. I debated watching it, but decided to give it a chance. Although the film is only about 10% of the game, it is still entertaining. It’s a decent video game movie that I enjoyed. I watched it five times over the course of two weeks. I find it entertaining, gory, and fun to watch.
Directed by David F. Sandberg and written by Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler, Until Dawn does an okay job of being like the game, but it does stray off. Let me explain, Clover (Rubin), her ex-boo thang Max (Cimino), her closest friends Nina (A’zion) and Megan (Yoo), along with Nina’s asshole boyfriend Abe (Cameli), are trying to find Clover’s missing sister Melanie (Mitchell). The group took a quick stop at a gas station, where Melanie claimed she was. Clover chats it up with the creepy station attendant, Hill (Stormare), who tells her that people tend to disappear around the abandoned mining town of Glore Valley. Wanting to find her sister, Clover and the group head towards the town. As they drive, a heavy ass rainfall descends upon them. They stop at a visitor’s center for shelter. While inspecting the house, Abe discovers a wall filled with photos of missing people, including Melanie. Nina signs the center’s guestbook, and that is when shit gets real.
A masked assailant appears in the house and first kills Abe. One by one, he kills each member of the group as they try everything they can to hide or even escape. After the assailant kills everyone, the hourglass flips over, and each person awakens on the first night as before, but with an additional signature along with their own missing person’s poster appearing on the board. The group quickly realizes that the night is repeating and that they have a certain number of repeated days to survive until Dawn.
Fans of the game might be disappointed because it is not a direct copy of the game. The game doesn’t have repeating days, and the primary element of the game is being on a mountain and fighting wendigos. This film has many of the aspects of the game, but the repeating days will probably piss people off. Sandberg did a decent job of explaining the story and getting you somewhat invested in the characters. Gamers around will be like “what the fuck is this shit?”
The story has that Groundhog Day vibe to it. I honestly enjoyed the repeating days because the film started with the masked killer, who is “one” of the people in the game. The film kept you interested with each night after the first. The second night was creepy with the old lady and homegirl Clover being yeeted in the house. That third night really set it off with the water and everyone exploding. The story relied on the deaths to drive the film and story. Around the fifth night, we get the big reveal that it is an experiment done by Hill, who is studying fear. We also get the reveal of the wendigos from the group transforming into the creatures with each death they incur.
Even though I would like it to be closer to the game, that is the purpose of the game. This was a different spin on the game. At least Sandberg put easter eggs of the game in the film. He could’ve thrown up the middle finger, but he did make sure to honor the main parts. For one, Clover’s missing sister is a direct reference to Josh losing his sisters. Secondly, Peter Stormare is in the film, just as in the game, and he plays a psychiatrist. I love the callback to the masked figure, Wendigos, and references to specific places in the game and the film, particularly Josh. Everything can’t be on The Last of Us level.
As far as the characters are concerned, it has the standard troupe of characters you would find in a video game like this. Each performer did their job to make you either care for the character or be disgusted. It’s one of those films where you don’t have to dissect and delve deeply into the characters and their motives. Ella Rubin as Clover was the star of the movie. She played Clover well with all the spotlight on her. She was on a mission to find her sister, and she got many of the best horror scenes. I want to give it up to Odessa A’zion as Nina and Ji-young Yoo as Megan. A’zion played Megan as that baddie who cared for her friend but was also way too good for her boyfriend and asshole Abe. Loved how she fucked him up in one scene. Yoo was awesome as Megan. She played Megan as a psychic type who could do some shit. The entire scene of pointing at the missing people and speaking in their voices was a highlight of the film. Yoo was one of the best parts of the film. Michael Cimino as Max and Belmont Cameli as Abe were your standard male friends in the movie. Max is Clover’s ex-boyfriend who would follow her to the ends of the earth while hoping for a chance to get back together. Cameli played Abe like the typical asshole boyfriend of one of the characters who would rather save themselves than anyone else. I need to give a shoutout to Peter Stormare as Dr. Alan Hill. Even though he wasn’t in the film that much, it was nice to have him reprising his role from the game. It added some credibility to the film.
I must give credit to David F. Sandberg for adapting a decent film from a video game. I thought it was going to be absolute trash, and he made it decent and interesting to watch. I love how he did the end credits. It was a spot-on way. Until Dawn can take pride in being a middle-to-upper-middle video game film adaptation. Play the game because it is fun, but don’t let it stress you out; give this film a chance. Maybe you can survive until Dawn. Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn!
