Resident Evil- Welcome To Raccoon City May 2026

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) is a return-to-roots adaptation that tries to recapture the bleak, survival-horror atmosphere of the original 1996 game rather than the glossy action of the earlier film series. It’s a mood-driven, sometimes uneven love letter for fans and a modestly effective horror film in its own right.

What works

What doesn’t fully land

Verdict Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City succeeds as a heartfelt, darker reimagining that prioritizes mood and fidelity to its source. It won’t convert viewers who dislike the franchise’s tropes, and it occasionally stumbles in pacing and character depth—but for fans craving a grimmer, less bombastic Resident Evil on screen, it’s the closest thing yet to the tone of the original games.

Score: 3.5/5 — A respectful, atmospheric reboot with strong set pieces and fan service, held back by uneven pacing and underused characters.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a 2021 survival horror film that serves as a reboot of the live-action franchise, moving away from the action-heavy style of the Milla Jovovich era to return to the series' atmospheric horror roots. Movie Overview Release Date: November 24, 2021. Johannes Roberts, known for 47 Meters Down

Set in 1998, the film follows a group of survivors during the initial outbreak of the T-Virus in Raccoon City, a once-booming town now decaying after the exodus of the pharmaceutical giant, Umbrella Corporation. Faithfulness to Source: Resident Evil- Welcome to Raccoon City

Unlike previous films, this entry is a direct adaptation of the first two games in the series— Resident Evil Resident Evil 2

—blending the stories of the Spencer Mansion and the Raccoon City Police Department into a single narrative. Key Characters and Cast

The film features an ensemble cast portraying iconic protagonists from the video game franchise: Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario):

A young woman returning to her hometown to warn her brother about Umbrella’s secrets. Chris Redfield (Robbie Amell):

A member of the S.T.A.R.S. unit and Claire’s estranged brother. Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia): A rookie police officer on his first day at the RPD. Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen): A skilled marksman and member of S.T.A.R.S.. Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper):

A key member of the team whose true motivations are revealed as the night unfolds. William Birkin (Neal McDonough): Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) is

A leading Umbrella scientist with a deep connection to the Redfields' childhood. Reception and Performance Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)

The brilliance of the 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake proved that the franchise works best when it is claustrophobic, dark, and wet. Johannes Roberts understood this assignment immediately. Unlike the sterile, high-tech labs of the previous movies, Welcome to Raccoon City is grimy. It’s rainy. It’s shadowy.

The film makes a daring narrative choice: it mashes up the plotlines of the first game (the Spencer Mansion incident) and the second game (the Raccoon City outbreak). While this creates some serious pacing issues, it allows the film to utilize the full roster of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team alongside the Raccoon City survivors.

We follow Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario) as she returns to her dying hometown to warn her brother, Chris (Robbie Amell). Meanwhile, the S.T.A.R.S. team heads into the Arklay Mountains to investigate the Spencer Mansion, while rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia) deals with the outbreak at the police station.

This structure is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it gives the audience exactly what they want: the mansion puzzles and the city chaos in one sitting. On the other hand, it creates a disjointed narrative that often feels like two different movies stitched together. However, the atmosphere in both segments is undeniably "Resident Evil."

For decades, the phrase “video game movie” was synonymous with disappointment. For every Mortal Kombat (1996) that got the aesthetic right, there were a dozen Super Mario Bros. or Street Fighter adaptations that left fans wondering if the directors had ever actually held a controller. For a long time, the Resident Evil franchise was the undisputed king of this medium—but not necessarily for the right reasons. What doesn’t fully land

Paul W.S. Anderson’s six-film saga starring Milla Jovovich was a financial juggernaut, but to hardcore fans of the Capcom games, it felt like a betrayal. It stripped away the horror, the specific lore, and the iconic characters (relegating Jill, Claire, and Leon to background roles) in favor of a superhero-action vehicle for Alice.

When it was announced that Constantin Film was rebooting the series with writer/director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down), the promise was simple and enticing: This time, it would be faithful.

Now that Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City has been released and sits comfortably on streaming platforms, it’s time to look back at this ambitious, flawed, and fascinating attempt to bring the survival horror genre back to the silver screen. Does it succeed in washing away the taste of the Anderson era? Let’s find out.

Perhaps the most controversial decision Roberts made was to merge the narratives of the first two games: Resident Evil (1996) and its superior sequel, Resident Evil 2 (1998). Canonically, the Spencer Mansion incident (featuring S.T.A.R.S. members Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Albert Wesker) occurs on July 24th, while the city-wide outbreak (featuring Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield) occurs on September 29th. Welcome to Raccoon City smashes these timelines together into a single, chaotic 107-minute blitz.

This creates a unique, if frantic, energy.

Roberts prioritized casting actors who physically resembled their video game counterparts.

Forget the sleek, futuristic underground labs of the Anderson era. Welcome to Raccoon City is drenched in atmosphere. The film looks like it was shot through a layer of rain, rust, and cigarette smoke. Roberts has openly cited John Carpenter (The Thing, Halloween) and David Cronenberg (The Fly) as influences, and it shows.

Raccoon City isn't a city; it's a dying, bankrupt industrial town abandoned by the Umbrella Corporation. The streets are empty, the lighting is cold fluorescent, and the orphanage looks like a gateway to hell. This isn’t an action movie setting; it’s a tragedy waiting to happen. The film captures the "blue glow" of the original PlayStation games’ save rooms and the claustrophobic, fixed-camera angle aesthetic perfectly. You feel the dread of walking down a hallway with only a lighter and a handgun with six bullets.