Resident Evil sets new Rotten Tomatoes record as it debuts with near-perfect rating

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil adaptation has broken a huge Rotten Tomatoes record before its release. The Barbarian and Weapons director is bringing the acclaimed survival horror video game series to the big screen with a story that is set in the same universe but tells an original story.

Resident Evil follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who heads out to deliver a mysterious package to Raccoon City General Hospital but ends up having to fight for survival when he begins encountering the undead.

Ahead of its release on 18 September, Resident Evil has become the highest-rated video game movie ever with an impressive 97% rating from critics, based on 91 reviews, at the time of writing.

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It has beaten 2024's Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which previously held the title with an 86% score.

Previous Resident Evil films have failed to break the 40% mark on the review aggregator, with the Milla Jovovich-starring Resident Evil from 2002 sitting at 36%.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse, which followed in 2004, has a lowly 18% rating, while Extinction, Afterlife, and Retribution all sit in the 20s. The 2021 reboot Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, starring Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, has a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Ahead of Cregger's latest film release, here is what critics have been saying about Resident Evil from early screenings...

Digital Spy

"It feels like damning it with faint praise to say that Resident Evil is the best live-action movie of the series, so we'll add that not only is it that, but it's also one of the most purely entertaining horror movies of the year."

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Seattle Times

"At a taut 90 minutes, Resident Evil is everything I’ve ever wanted in a RE film: It’s scary, it’s clever, and it feels like it could be an RE game but doesn’t just do a shot-for-shot remake of an already existing game."

Empire

"The glue holding this all together is Austin Abrams. In him, Cregger has found the bumbling, chaotic De Niro to his Scorsese."

The Independent

"It feels thoroughly like a film by Zach Cregger... proving that subtle, psychological work isn’t always the superior horror when you have a filmmaker who can deliver a jump scare shock with this much elegant panache."

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The Times

"At its core it is a sweet and hyperkinetic children’s cartoon that is wrapped up in a frantic, violent and gory zombie flick. How could you resist?"

Little White Lies

"It’s a massively impressive and effective film, but maybe one that appears so much better because the bar for this type of work is so low. Wait here while I go and watch it again, just to check…"

Resident Evil is in cinemas from 18 September.

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Freelance Reporter, Digital Spy Rebecca is a freelance journalist who specializes in TV and film. After beginning her career as a digital entertainment journalist for the Express & Star and Shropshire Star, she embarked on a freelance career in 2021 contributing to the likes of Metro UK, The Sun, WhatCulture, Screen Rant, FilmHounds Magazine and more. Her particular field of interest is horror cinema and she has written for genre publications such as Ghouls Magazine and Moving Pictures Film Club. LinkedIn