Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth main entry in the influential series of survival horror games, arrives at the end of February, and to promote it Capcom is taking Resident Evil to a place it’s been many, many times before: live action. Today the video game company released a new short film set in the world of the games, starring Longlegs and It Follows star Maika Monroe. It doesn’t directly connect to Requiem’s story, and, for reasons that the trailer quickly makes apparent, Monroe’s character won’t be in the game. It gives a sense of Requiem’s tone, though, absolutely living up to that subtitle, and also provides a slice-of-life look at how the 1998 T-Virus outbreak that kicks off the whole series impacted the people of Raccoon City.
Resident Evil is no stranger to live action. Paul W.S. Anderson made six movies starring Milla Jovovich between 2002 and 2017, and if you don’t play games that’s probably what you think of when you hear the name. Those movies and the games were almost entirely unrelated, though, basically sharing some general concepts and little else. A 2021 reboot starred Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, and Robbie Amell as some of the characters from the games, but fared poorly in theaters, with its planned sequels cancelled. And then there was a series on Netflix that came and went in 2022, with little relation to the characters or stories from the games. Next up is another film reboot, due this year, from Barbarian and Weapons director Zach Cregger; the former Whitest Kids U’ Know troupe member has said his reboot will be more influenced by the games than the Anderson-Jovovich movies, pointing to Resident Evil 2, 3: Nemesis, and 4 as inspirations. He’s also said that it won’t feature any characters from the games, so it sounds like it might be similar to this Requiem short: set in the world of the games, but telling its own story.
Here’s that short; maybe have a handkerchief handy if you tear up easily. Resident Evil Requiem comes out for the PC, PlayStation 5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S on February 27.
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