The dangers of making a movie based on a video game is that a filmmaker can either make the movie so unlike the game it is hated by gamers or relying on so much game-lore that it becomes a confusing mess for anyone who has never played the game.
Some films have escaped those issues and as a result we have films like the original Resident Evil and Tomb Raider films that were thoroughly enjoyed by both gamers and cinematic fans alike.
Now comes an interesting one though with director David F. Sandberg (Shazam!) tackling 2015’s Until Dawn game. That is an interesting thought considering that many likened playing the game to watching a 10 hour horror movie. Sandberg however tried to howl down criticism of the film perhaps having ‘length’ issues by saying that this isn’t a video game adaption but rather a film using the game’s mythology – in other words set in its universe.
The film’s plot follows Clover (Ella Rubin – Anora) a young student who is still haunted by the disappearance of her sister, Melanie (Maia Mitchell – The Last Summer), twelve months earlier.
Together with her ex-boyfriend, Max (Michael Cimino – Annabelle Comes Home), her friends Nina (Odessa A’zion – Hellraiser) and Megan (Ji-young Yoo – Smoking Tigers) and Nina’s boyfriend Abe (Belmont Cameli – The Alto Knights) they decide to retrace Melanie journey in a bid to find clues of what might have happened to her.
This leads them to a mining town called Glore Valley which seems to be surrounded by a fierce rain storm. They decide to take shelter in the Visitor’s Centre and while Nina signs into the guestbook while Abe finds a wall of ‘Missing Persons’ posters that includes a photo of Melanie. What they don’t realise is that those actions have just started a nightmare for them – a nightmare that will see them continue to re-live the day over and over with the only options to die or try to battle though it and make it to dawn – when supposedly they will be freed.
The notion of a horror film using the elements of Groundhog Day is nothing new – in fact Happy Death Day did it brilliantly well just a few years ago – so in order for Until Dawn to really work it needed to come up with a horror or a twist so brilliant that it left its audience stunned. But that is what makes Until Dawn such a frustrating film – it feels like screenwriters Blair Butler (The Invitation) and Gary Dauberman (It) came up with some great ideas but just didn’t know how to deliver them to the audience.
A classic example of that is the scene with Clover and the Glore Witch (Mariann Hermanyi – The Brutalist) – a brilliantly executed scene that raises the suspense stakes of the film but then once it has ended it feels like that part of the plot goes nowhere and doesn’t benefit it all. The film seems to do that a lot early on and only seems to overcome it when the answers about Melanie and the introduction of Dr. Hill (Peter Stormare – Fargo) are revealed.
Yes, they are great plot twists but I can’t help but wonder whether the film would have benefited from them being introduced earlier because it seems to flounder a lot before their reveals.
To its credit though there are things that work about the film. The ‘exploding characters’ idea works brilliantly well and the film overcomes the fact that some of its characters aren’t that likable with some really good writing. Yes, some of them maybe annoying but you still find yourself barracking for them to make it through to dawn.
Above all the best thing about Until Dawn is the premise of Glore Valley itself. The idea that an entire town sunk into the Earth trapping its inhabitants sounds like the kind of story that Stephen King would be proud of – but sadly the audience doesn’t get to explore it all that much which feels like a waste of a good idea.
When it comes to the cast this film is largely carried by the performance of Ella Rubin. Whether it be an emotional moment confronting the memory of her sister or a scene of true terror or suspense Rubin delivers with remarkable talent. She is well supported by Odessa A’zion and Ji-young Yoo but the standout here is Peter Stormare who laps up every second of screentime that he gets.
Until Dawn is not exactly a confusing mess but it never really capitalises on some of the great ideas that its screenwriters had. It flounders at times but a creative final act at least makes it something you will remember.
2.5/5 stars