Cregger rewrote the Resident Evil ending late in production — and that one change is what fans are fighting about
In the original cut the antidote was destroyed the moment Bryan arrived. Cregger moved it to the final seconds.
Right, so Zach Cregger has rolled out his new Resident Evil movie, and while the survival horror crowd are loving it, the final scene's managed to spark off a proper split amongst fans. It's been lauded for nailing that tense, claustrophobic vibe, but the way it wraps up has got a lot of people arguing whether all that suspense actually paid off or if it just fizzled at the finish line.
The Ending That Set Off Fans
Let me walk you through what happens in those last minutes. The main lad, Bryan (played by Austin Abrams), isn't your usual action hero – he's just a courier stuck right in the thick of the Raccoon City chaos, clutching a crucial bit for a new antidote. He manages, barely, to hack his way through infected crowds and makes it to the Umbrella Corporation lab at the city hospital. He hands off this all-important sample, but here's the problem: Bryan's already had a nibble from one of the infected.
As the scientists are prepping the cure, Bryan's in a right state. He starts morphing into something with more tentacles than sense. During the chaos that follows, the single syringe of antidote gets knocked out the hospital window, lands out in the cold, and Bryan properly loses what remains of his humanity. Searchlights from the National Guard pop up, Bryan's lost to the monster, and boom—credits. Totally sudden. If you blink, you might miss the whole thing.
Resident Evil released in September 2026 and shot to one of the highest Rotten Tomatoes scores ever for a survival horror adaptation.
And there you go, that's the bit that's kicked off the debate: you follow this bloke for nearly two hours, he's fighting tooth and nail for survival, and it all collapses in a heap right at the finish. A bunch of fans have been left cold, wondering why they bothered cheering for him if they were only getting misery in the end.
Fan Reactions: All Over The Place
- @TheKingerdYT didn't hold back at all, calling it a 'very abrupt ending with no resolution.' They reckon it's believable, sure, but not at all satisfying if you're sat in the cinema hoping for a proper wrap-up. He went as far as saying he'd rather have seen Cregger's effort cut down to a half-hour short, just the intro and a meatier ending, giving it a 5.5 out of 10.
- @MathEng_CRF was frustrated with what he called too many meaningless sequences – puzzles, sewer wandering, bog-standard zombie chases, and boss fights that just go in circles until you finally find a creative way to end them.
- @SameerMonier struck an odd note, splitting his review down the middle: 'As a horror movie, it's an 8/10. But as a Resident Evil movie, it's a 2 at best.' So, if you're after pure horror, you're laughing; if you're a proper fan of the game's universe, it's a disappointment. He did give props to the film's atmosphere and slick cinematography, and thought the switching between first and third person was an interesting touch.
- @REBHFollower summed up a lot of purist frustration, calling it a 'terrible adaptation'. In their view, if the film had come out under any other title, it’d be a 7/10, but as a Resident Evil film, the final act killed it for them.
Cregger's Unusual Approach
It's not just about the ending, though—the entire film stays clear of the classic Resident Evil roster. There's no Leon S. Kennedy swaggering in, no Jill Valentine either. Instead, it's all through the lens of an everyman caught in the middle of the horror. It's a bold choice, and, as you can imagine, that's ruffled a few feathers for those who wanted a more traditional adaptation.
An interesting behind-the-scenes detail: Cregger apparently changed the ending late in production. Initially, the idea was for the antidote syringe to smash basically straight after Bryan arrived, paving the way for all-out carnage. In the film we got, the destruction of the cure is saved for the very last second, which keeps you guessing and ratchets up the tension right up until the lights go up. Whether that decision works or not seems to depend on how much you like having the rug pulled from under you just when you think there might be hope.
Read more: Cregger went into Resident Evil thinking one and done — now he says he can't help himself