For a video game adaptation, Until Dawn is an odd one to attempt in another medium. In the game, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, the player’s choices dictate where the story goes, who dies, and what horrors will creep up as you play — a horror take on the butterfly effect. Without that player interaction, on the surface, the plot somewhat looks like a fairly standard horror story, where a group of friends get together in a cabin for a weekend, only to be slowly picked off one by one. Oh, and it has future Oscar winner Rami Malek turning into a wendigo, so there’s that.
But with the film adaptation, Until Dawn, director David F. Sandberg (Shazam!, Annabelle: Creation), and writers Gary Dauberman (It, Annabelle Comes Home) and Blair Butler (G4’s Attack of the Show!, The Invitation) find a clever way around bringing this story to the movies: give the viewer every possibility. Instead of directly adapting the game’s story, this trio has fun with the potential of so many options as to where this story can go, in a film that has a blast at exploring all sorts of horror conventions and genres.
What Is the ‘Until Dawn’ Movie About?

A year after her sister Melanie (Maia Mitchell) goes missing, Clover (Ella Rubin) and her friends try to trace her last known whereabouts to see if they can find her. On this journey, she’s joined by her ex, Max (Michael Cimino), new couple Nina (Odessa A’zion) and Abel (Belmont Cameli), and their friend Megan (Ji-young Yoo), who claims to have psychic abilities. Their search has come up short on any details, until they get to an abandoned welcome center in Glore Valley, which has a wall papered with “Missing” posters, a guest book that features signatures from people who have written their names over and over again, and an hourglass that turns over by itself, running out at dawn.
These five friends soon come to realize that they can’t leave this welcome center. While exploring the center, they are killed by a masked murderer, but upon their deaths, they wake up again at the beginning of the evening. These five are trapped in a loop of death that they can’t get out of until they stay alive until dawn, and if they die, they have to start the night over again. However, the horrors are different each night, with strange witches, possessions, and even contaminated water ready to take these five out. As Clover tries to figure out if this is what happened to her sister, these five discover that if they don’t survive until morning, they’ll become one of the monsters of the night.
‘Until Dawn’ Is a Celebration of All Types of Horror

What makes Until Dawn such a fun surprise is the way that Sandberg, Dauberman, and Butler play with the tropes and styles of horror, all within what could’ve easily just been a slasher. Without spoiling everything that the film has to offer, we get masked murderers akin to Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees, a segment that plays out like Ju-On: The Grudge and other similar Japanese supernatural horror films, and plenty of other wild ways to kill these five. It’s like The Cabin in the Woods, but if we got to see each different horror scenario play out.

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It’s also a smart way to adapt this game, as instead of allowing the player to make decisions that eventually lead to different deaths, here, we get to see the reckoning of each individual choice. Of course, these choices can’t be as narrow and specific as they are in a video game, but it finds a way to still capture that spirit in a different medium. While this film isn’t exactly tied to the games, Sandberg, Dauberman, and Butler find fun ways to honor the original material. The biggest connection is the return of Peter Stormare as his character, Dr. Hill from the games, who makes for a great movie villain, and there are fun Easter eggs throughout the film that pay homage to that PlayStation horror classic.
‘Until Dawn’ Is Horror Junk Food — Fun, Enjoyable but Not Too Substantial

Image via Sony Pictures

Sandberg, who got his start in horror with 2016’s Lights Out and hasn’t directed a horror film in nearly a decade, since 2017’s Annabelle: Creation, is clearly enjoying himself testing out all these scenarios throughout Until Dawn, and the writing here never takes this concept too seriously. Considering Sandberg has spent the last few years in the DCEU with films like 2019’s Shazam! and 2023’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods, it’s a welcome change to see him back at it in horror.
But as entertaining as Until Dawn is, it’s fairly light in most regards, other than the kills. While the characters in the game had more time to have intricate connections to one another, these five are fairly one-note. Ella Rubin as Clover makes for a strong horror lead, but the rest of the cast just don’t have enough to do, beyond getting killed in a myriad of ways. For example, Michael Cimino’s Max is a decent character, still pining after Clover and trying to protect her as best he can from the monsters trying to kill them, and yet, that potential romance doesn’t go anywhere. Neither does the relationship between Odessa A’zion’s Nina and Belmont Cameil’s Abel, while Ji-young Yoo’s Megan often ends up a fifth wheel.
As previously mentioned, Until Dawn really isn’t that interested in the story either. Once the deaths start happening, the film understandably has a one-track mind in regards to how to make it through each night. The film occasionally tries to dive into what the hell is actually going on in Glore Valley, and it’s all a bunch of exposition drops that don’t really explain much of anything. It’s clear that the what and why of Until Dawn isn’t the priority here; it’s just a jumping-off point to have some fun within the genre, which is also fine!
No one is coming to Until Dawn for deep characters and a remarkable plot. It has a good time relishing in the different types of horror these characters can play around with, while also hinting at plenty of other options that potential sequels could explore. And let’s be honest, at this point, horror usually attempts to be about something deeper. While that’s certainly admirable and can often lead to great films (just look at Sinners), it’s also nice to just turn your brain off and revel in some good ol’ fashioned blood and mayhem, which Until Dawn is more than happy to provide.
Until Dawn comes to theaters on April 25.

Until Dawn

Until Dawn is a fun horror adaptation that revels in the kills, but is light on character and story.

Release Date

April 25, 2025

Director

David F. Sandberg

Writers

Gary Dauberman, Blair Butler

Producers

Carter Swan, Roy Lee, Gary Dauberman, Charles Miller, Lotta Losten, Asad Qizilbash

Pros & Cons

Until Dawn has a blast playing with different types of horror.
This does a good job of adapting the spirit of the game, without directly adapting the narrative.
Peter Stormare is great as a mysterious, strange villain.

The characters are mostly one-note and the script doesn’t know what to do with them.
The plot is mostly irrelevant, other than presenting a way to show off these kills.