Reel Review: Until Dawn (2025)

“Until Dawn” suffers from the enormity of the adaptation challenge and the inability to live up to what made the game such a breakout hit.

Another in a stream of video game adaptations brought to the big screen (we just saw the chaos of A Minecraft Movie brought to theaters), Until Dawn strives to take a 2015 PlayStation horror-survival original where a player controls eight young adults tasked with surviving the night, and craft it for film.

Made to be a sort of video game equivalent to the slasher film, the source material took movie influences from films like Evil Dead II and Poltergeist, as well as classic horror games such as Silent Hill, the influences of which can sometimes be felt in the film’s brighter moments.

Unfortunately, PlayStation’s Until Dawn is a behemoth to take on.

It is built with many decision-making engines, such as the butterfly effect system, in which choices change the narrative, and a complex storyline that tends to run off course if not carefully monitored.

Director David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation) and screenwriters Gary Dauberman (The Conjuring Universe, IT Chapter 1 and 2) and Blair Butler (Attack of the Show!) bring powerhouse talent to the table. However, they faced difficulties overcoming the adaptation obstacles, instead throwing everything at the wall in hopes of making some of the source material’s fright factor and storyline stick.

As a way to avoid the complexities of multiple choices, the filmmakers created a Groundhog Day-style slasher with a time loop conceit. Yet, they did almost nothing to create more impactful nights or escalate the terror as the film progressed.

Lacking genuine scares (and sometimes sense), Dawn harbors some light frights until it’s overcome with frustrating simplicity and redundancy.

We are drawn into a rushed introduction, meeting a group of friends on a road trip, rallying around their friend Clover (Ella Ruben). Obviously distraught, we discover that Clover is searching for her missing sister Melanie (Maia Mitchell). Her last video before disappearing is enough to entice Clover and friends Max (Michael Cimino), Megan (Ji-young Yoo), Abe (Belmont Cameli), and Nina (Hellraiser’s Odessa A’zion) to look for her.

With tips from a local gas station that Glore Valley up the way is where people often “get into trouble,” the group heads in that direction, battling a storm and each other.

As the fight and the rain reach a fever pitch, suddenly the rain ends like a wall, and there is an inn with a guest book. The group stops in, and Glore Valley wastes no time getting to work on them. Killed nearly instantly by a masked psychopath, the group is brought back as an hourglass on the wall turns back over, resetting the night. Minor injuries and their signatures are the only signs that they were there before.

The film sets into a death spiral, unleashing plenty of monstrous beings and situations, though deviating from the more engaging aspects of the game.

Taking more of a hack-and-slash approach, it looks more like Outlast than Until Dawn.

Supposedly, this setup we see in the film is more heavily borrowed from Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, and we see everything from creatures to spontaneous combustion as ways for characters to meet their demise.

Practical effects are wildly effective in this film as blood and gore pour.

However, I think after a certain juncture, even the bloodthirsty might find themselves satiated, or even bored.

While you get your dose of death near constantly thanks to the time loop structure, regrettably, they become stale and lack meaning. The characters, thanks to that rushed introduction I mentioned and a lack of development throughout the film, have virtually no depth or humanity. Though you may feel for their pain or repeated torture, you know nothing about them, and their dialogue doesn’t do much to bolster them.

Another complaint from fans of the game may be the role of Dr. Hill, played by Peter Stormare. Though many outlets said Stormare brought a “spirited” presence to the film, he was connected to events in a way that many fans may not agree with. Another attempt to perhaps tie this adaptation more directly to its source, fans have largely disagreed with the choice.

Failing to capture the intensity and anxiety of the source material, the film adaptation attempted to take on too large a task and ended up disappointing.

The game is a piece of art that features detailed characters, writing, and decision making. This made it a one-of-a-kind horror experience that lets you be the explorer and in the end, the decider.

The shortcomings of the film likely came down to the difficulty of trying to simplify a beautifully complex and frightening game without leaning on Easter eggs and cheap mechanics to make it palatable for all types of fans.

Until Dawn does not do justice to its source material; it fails to stick every landing, generating only a time capsule of limited scares.