A Mixed Bag: Until Dawn Review

I sat down late Saturday night in a local movie theater to watch Until Dawn, the latest video game-to-film adaptation from PlayStation Productions. A Mixed Bag: Until Dawn Review.

I didn’t play the game for more than a few hours and I’m not attached to the franchise so I didn’t have firm expectations. My understanding is that the game and film have different settings in addition to differences in the core plot which may be off-putting to avid fans of the game.

However, I don’t believe that fact is detrimental to the narrative. The film features a cast of 5 college-aged friends that are in the middle of searching for a girl who has gone missing. While searching one of the last known locations of the missing girl, her sister Clover, one of the 5 friends, discovers that she is likely in a place called Glore Valley. The 5 friends make their way to the welcome center of Glore Valley, discover that they are unable to leave, and a thrilling game begins in which the characters must survive ~Until Dawn~, or repeat the previous night.

Until Dawn utilizes some of the more common horror and familial drama tropes and achieves some mixed results. The motives of characters are thin and predictable, but I think there is good chemistry between the group and some solid on-screen performances from the cast. Until Dawn is a fun horror genre experience due to an unraveling mystery as well as new threats emerging each night to keep the action fresh.

In my opinion, the horror genre benefits from compelling monsters and believable character reactions and Until Dawn has a satisfying mix of the two. There are some clear nods to the game that I recognized, like certain sound cues in key moments essential for survival, and the ending of the film shows a very recognizable cabin. As serious as Until attempts to be, the film is verifiably campy and unserious at times. Despite this, the experience was thrilling and ultimately I enjoyed Until Dawn. A Mixed Bag: Until Dawn Review.