Resident Evil is the eighth film in Capcom's survival-horror franchise and the first one critics have actually liked - Zach Cregger's 2026 version holds a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes across more than 70 reviews, comfortably the highest score any Resident Evil movie has managed, against the 39% that 2017's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter set as the previous franchise high. It opened in Los Angeles on September 18th, and on Mood's screening data it is also the widest release the city has this week: 2,534 tracked showings across 101 theaters, from Cinépolis Cinemas Pico Rivera to AMC Burbank 16, ahead of Practical Magic 2's 1,022 screenings and Spider-Man: Brand New Day's 708.
A Medical Courier's Worst Night in Raccoon City
Cregger and co-writer Shay Hatten don't adapt a specific game so much as borrow its geography. Austin Abrams plays Bryan, a medical courier who takes a well-paying delivery to a Raccoon City hospital during a snowstorm, clips an infected woman with his van, and spends the rest of the film improvising through a viral outbreak that escalates by the hour. Zach Cherry and Paul Walter Hauser play Umbrella Corporation scientists Dave and Carl, and Kali Reis plays Pauline, an Umbrella enforcer whose loyalties complicate the back half. The film sits on the periphery of the timeline the games trace through Resident Evil 2, without leaning on fan service to make the connection explicit.
What Sets This Reboot Apart
Every previous Resident Evil attempt tried to modernize the zombie-outbreak formula; that was never the missing piece. What Cregger brings instead is the timing he proved in Weapons - a joke lands, and the drop into terror arrives while the audience's guard is still down. Reports from test screenings say he cut jokes rather than added them, which tracks with a film that trusts silence over punchlines. Bryan works as a protagonist precisely because he stays an amateur: scared, adapting badly, never turning into an action hero mid-film.
Where It Loses Its Nerve
The film is strongest when Bryan is alone - the snowbound first half gets real mileage out of empty parking structures and hospital corridors. The supporting Umbrella characters fare worse, functioning closer to exposition delivery than people, and the third act trades that outdoor dread for a stark white research-facility set that flattens the visual language the first hour built. It's a common problem for outbreak movies - the corporate reveal rarely matches the chase that precedes it - and Cregger doesn't solve it so much as move through it quickly.
How Big This Opening Really Is
Mood is tracking 13,674 screenings across 171 Los Angeles theaters this stretch, spanning new franchise horror down to single-screen revival bookings, and Resident Evil alone accounts for close to a fifth of that total - a bigger share of the citywide calendar than any other title comes near. The next-widest current release, Practical Magic 2, sits at well under half of Resident Evil's count on the same measure.
At a point in the franchise cycle when most legacy reboots settle for "better than the last one," Resident Evil clearing a nearly 60-point jump over the series' previous critical high is the rarer outcome: a fourth attempt at the same premise that finally has something to show for it.
Where to See It in Los Angeles
Mood's data puts the film in 101 of the 171 theaters it currently tracks for the city - a wider footprint than any other new release for this stretch, running from circuit multiplexes like Regal Irvine Spectrum to neighborhood houses such as AMC The Americana at Brand 18. Full showtimes are on Resident Evil's movie page on Mood, and the wider slate of what else is running this week is on Mood's Los Angeles movies hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Resident Evil (2026) based on one of the video games?
Not directly. Director Zach Cregger and co-writer Shay Hatten built an original story around a medical courier caught in a Raccoon City outbreak, set on the periphery of the timeline the games trace through Resident Evil 2, rather than adapting a specific game's plot scene for scene.
Who stars in the new Resident Evil movie?
Austin Abrams leads as Bryan, the courier at the center of the outbreak, alongside Zach Cherry and Paul Walter Hauser as Umbrella Corporation scientists Dave and Carl, and Kali Reis as Umbrella enforcer Pauline.
Is Resident Evil (2026) the best-reviewed film in the franchise?
Yes. It holds a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from more than 70 reviews, well above the 39% that 2017's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter previously held as the series' high point.
Where is Resident Evil (2026) playing in Los Angeles?
It's the widest release Mood is currently tracking in the city, running in 101 of the 171 Los Angeles theaters in Mood's data, including Regal Irvine Spectrum, Cinemark Century Orange XD, and Cinépolis Cinemas Pico Rivera. Check Mood's list of Los Angeles cinemas for a theater near you.
Is Resident Evil (2026) horror or comedy leaning?
Both, deliberately. Cregger structures the film around the same rhythm that carried Weapons - a laugh followed immediately by a scare while the audience is still relaxed - rather than picking one register and staying in it.
For everything running in theaters across the city this week, browse Los Angeles movie listings on Mood.
