The Resident Evil franchise has a mixed track record in the cinematic landscape, and a new live-action short film promoting Resident Evil Requiem may put all previous efforts to shame.
Titled “Evil Has Always Had A Name,” the roughly three-and-a-half-minute-long film features Maika Monroe, who starred in horror films It Follows and Longlegs. Monroe portrays the mother of a young girl, and the two appear to be living a happy life–unfortunately, they were living in Raccoon City amidst the T-virus outbreak depicted in Resident Evil 2 and 3.
You can probably see where this short film is going without us telling you, and it ends in a somber yet heartfelt fashion. The video provides glimpses of the city during the chaos and destruction, and some viewers even believe they heard Nemesis yell his famous “STARS” line in the background.
Monroe doesn’t play a character from Requiem, nor will her original character appear in the game. Instead, the live-action short serves as a tone piece, as Requiem has its protagonists revisiting the ruins of Raccoon City decades after the outbreak.
Long-form live-action adaptations of Resident Evil have historically not fared well critically, with none of the seven films that were released in theaters even reaching a score of 50 on GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic. It might surprise fans that the Requiem short film was helmed by Rich Lee, who directed last year’s maligned War of the Worlds remake starring Ice Cube–yet Lee’s short is still arguably more faithful to the series than any of the feature films.
Weapons director Zach Cregger is hoping to turn that around with his own rebooted Resident Evil film, which will be set in the world of the games. The film is currently in production for a September 18 release, while Resident Evil Requiem launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 on February 27. GameSpot’s final preview of Resident Evil Requiem called it an “absolute stunner.”