Expert note
Our verdict
Until Dawn is a solid adaptation of play and proof that there is an interest and potential on this market. Although it follows its own story, the heart of the game is there, and fans of the original story find many elements inside.
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In 2015, I remember sitting with a group of my friends to play a new horror game called up to dawn. That night, we ended up playing to hours. Since then, it is something that I have replayed countless times. It occupies a special place in my heart, as with many fans. So how does the adaptation of Sony Pictures' film 2025 hold?
The answer is: it manages, in its own way.
Following a group of adolescents (Ella Rubin, Ji-Young Yoo, Belmont Cameli, Michael Cimino and Odessa A'zion) during a car trip in search of the missing sister of Clover (Rubin), Mel (Maia Mitchell). Although the configuration is nothing like the snowy backdrop of the game, it always holds its cleanliness, especially with the way the new location is represented.
As we can see in the trailer, our only tangible connection to the game is the clerk of the service station, played by Peter Stormare. Although there is no idea that he resumes his role from Dr. Hill, the familiar voice that manages psychiatry sessions in the game is a welcome addition.
Like the game, fear is a leading motivator in the film: what pushes us and what makes us move forward. This forces the group to face all of this. In a refreshing turn of most teenage slashers, they actually learn from their mistakes night after night, and they use it for their next attempts. We do not see anyone making irrational decisions more than once, which, I think, is one of the intelligent ways of this film linked to the game. We cannot have a butterfly effect notification here, but we can always feel the ramifications.
One of the things that the film does well is to transform it into a world of video games that is its own. All the elements are there, and I even found myself wanting to play a version of the film more than once while watching. You have several monsters, which means several ways of dying and several new decisions to make.
I even found myself wanting to play a game version of the film more than once
As for the group, their dynamics were solid, but we just didn't have enough to feel really rooted in their history and their conflicts. Unlike the game, we don't really get flashbacks to what happened before. These are an integral part of this story, and their absence has been definitively felt. However, the cast always worked well together, and they were all solid enough not to make comparisons with the characters of the original game.
However, there are a lot of Easter eggs in the film, one of which made me breathe audible. These are this kind of reminders and tributes that complement the story and the world, and opens the public not only to people who have played the game, but also to people who simply love the genre.
The hourglass, a central piece on the cover of the game but not really in the story itself, is transformed into its own character in this film. Seeing its physical presence each time the group resets is a kind of finished feeling on their own morality: although they can continue to reset, their time is not unlimited and their scars remain. It is an intelligent addition to this adaptation, and how they manage the multiple directions of the game.
Rubin and Ciminio hold history on their shoulders, and although it is a little trembling sometimes, he manages to support himself through new twists and turns. However, this is one of the few films where I want them to have given us a longer execution time.
… This is one of the few films where I want them to have given us a longer execution time
We needed to know more about the characters and their motivations and their relationships, which suffered because we did not have the flashbacks we needed. The final act also felt a little rushed, and there were so many things that could have benefited from more than twenty more minutes.
Should you watch the adaptation of the film until dawn?
Until Dawn has its own name in the genre while never completely forgetting its origin. It's fun, it's intelligent and it's bloody.
But it is far from perfect, especially with regard to the stories of the characters and the third precipitated act. Nevertheless, as long as you expect to expect something that is just inspired by Source equipment, you will have a good time. In addition, there are a few really terrifying moments in there.
I hope it will bring more people to discover the 2015 game and, if they have not played it, to collect a controller and immerse themselves in a snowy mountain landscape. Who knows, there can be one up to dawn 2 on the horizon.
Until Dawn is now in cinemas. You can buy tickets from Cineworld, Odeon and View in the United Kingdom, and AMC Theatres, Fandango and the Will Dawn website in the United States.
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