Until Dawn (2025)
Last Watch Date - October 12, 2025
Total Times Watched - 1
Comments
I was a latecomer to the video game, only playing it in ... maybe 2017 or so. That was at least 2 years after it came out, but I was able to keep any spoilers away. I did hear that the game was GREAT and had a fun story. What I knew of this movie up front was that it did NOT follow the game plot. That works for me since the game is basically an interactive movie already. Why rehash that story?
There are commonalities between the game and movie, specifically the therapist and a sanatorium, though you don't see either for a bit. Pretty much everything else is different. The way they approached the story using a time loop (not really a spoiler, it comes out very quickly) could've been interesting but I think they should've ended it sooner.
The runtime for this is 103 minutes but it felt probably 15-20 minutes too long. Because it's in such a small space in such a small time, it starts to feel a bit ho-hum around halfway through. I think it's meant to build dread and have them learn over time, but it doesn't really seem to do that. Beyond the very first loop, it never really felt that tense because the stakes felt so low. Maybe they could've concealed that it was a time loop or had it more intense each loop.
The acting was pretty good. Pamela Adlon's daughter is in this – she was in the newer Hellraiser movie too and good in both. I didn't recognize any of the others, but they were pretty solid overall.
It's worth noting that the kills and gore in this are relatively realistic and pretty good if you're into that.
Recommended?
I don't really think I'll ever watch this again. It's forgettable. So I guess that's a no.
