When I first heard that the 2015 survival horror game “Until Dawn” was being translated for the big screen, my mind initially concocted a cool scenario that was probably way too complicated to carry out in a movie theater. The big hook of the PlayStation game is the choose-your-own adventure elements, which are consequential to the story depending on where you go. This type of interaction in a movie theater (“Chicken Jockey” involuntary response be damned) would be pretty cool to have. Given the extensive number of theaters, production, and the technology required to pull this off, it would be a monumental task. So, why lean into the video game element with a slight, more practical twist?
Director David F. Sandberg takes that premise and infuses it with elements of “Groundhog Day” and “Cabin In The Woods,” which feels like you’re watching a more expensive version of a “Let’s Play” on YouTube with almost every horror situation imaginable. It’s more ‘Until Dawn’ in spirit, with easter eggs for those who have played the game to spot rather than a straight-up adaptation.
Until Dawn / Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing
A group of four young adults, Clover (Ella Rubin), Max (Michael Cimino), Nina (Odessa A’zion), Megan (Ji-young Yoo), and Abe (Belmont Cameli) decide to go on an adventure to commemorate a tough first anniversary. Clover’s sister, Melanie (Maia Mitchell), has been missing, and there have been few signs of her whereabouts, except a couple of videos she has left behind. That’s pretty much the extent of “Until Dawn’s” weighty emotional story. Writers Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler opt to keep character motivations somewhat simplistic. Megan may or may not be clairvoyant; Nina is more of the group’s voice. Max still has feelings for Clover after their breakup, and Abe… well, he’s an outsider in this longstanding friend group, except for his recent relationship with Nina.
The foursome heads to Glore Valley, a city that was devastated by a mining accident that claimed the lives of thousands, and the place of Melanie’s last signs of life. A horror movie wouldn’t be complete without a stern warning from one of the local gas station attendant (played by Peter Stormare). Still, the group presses on to an abandoned welcome center anyway. As an aside, if you’ve played the game before, you’d recognize Stormane, which doubles as a nice piece of foreboding lore. Things aren’t what they seem, from the torrential downpour happening right outside the compound and not touching it, to the hourglass that hangs on the wall. Instead of taking a particular character through their own versions of the plot, Sandberg’s version places everyone in a continual loop. The film throws a who’s who of horror enemies at the young adults – masked slasher, evil spirits, tainted drinking water, you name it. It’s a gory affair that shifts into a comedic tone as over-the-top elements reveal themselves.
Until Dawn / Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing
The continual die/revive/die template might risk wearing out its welcome. To Sandberg’s credit, it feels as though he has more tricks up his sleeve in how to torture this group of young people. How many times have you played a game and just gotten tired of dying at the same plots over and over again? We can all attest to that. Towards the second half of the film, there’s an interesting plot point given that makes the need to “survive the night” more urgent. It provides “Until Dawn” with much-needed stakes because it’s not as if these characters have an infinite health cheat code. With that said, there’s a sub-plot left on the table that could have pushed the film into even greater territory. If you had a chance to save yourself at the expense of others, would you? The film introduces possible fissures inside this friend group, where this adaptation could have ended on a fascinating note. “Until Dawn” leaves that alone, ending up in more of a jovial route than the game itself.
In total, this effort is probably the best route an “Until Dawn’ film could have taken – a haunted house or, in this case, rotating scenarios of horror, you know, with a somewhat believable story at the center. It throws some bones at people who have played the game, but strives more to welcome more of those who haven’t.
