Resident Evil Fans Debate the Divisive Ending of Zach Cregger's Movie
The ending of Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie has proven to be a divisive one, and fans are at odds as to whether or not it was a “good” conclusion to the film’s ultimately tragic story.
Warning! Major spoilers for Resident Evil (2026) below.
Cregger made the bold decision to avoid a direct adaptation of pre-existing games in the Resident Evil series. Instead, his film follows an average Joe in medical courier Bryan Hodukavich, who is tasked with transporting a sensitive package to Raccoon City General Hospital.
After braving several mutated monstrosities on the way to his destination, Bryan learns that this package contains a chemical agent necessary to create a vaccine for a virus unleashed by the unwitting scientists at Umbrella. Unfortunately for him, he gets bitten by an infected girl and ultimately succumbs to the virus, turning into a Nemesis who ends up killing all the remaining scientists on the hospital’s top floor.
During this massacre, Bryan’s consciousness and personality are still mostly intact; he desperately wants the vaccine and struggles to snatch the syringe from the scientists’ hands, but his mutation takes over, killing the only people who can help him.
At the very end of the movie, Nemesis-Bryan ends up killing the last remaining scientist, dropping the syringe to the ground 28 stories below. It’s a tragic ending to a tragic story, and one that some fans can’t help but feel dropped the ball a little.
Most viewers who are critical of the film’s ending believe that Byran went through all this trouble just to get zero payoff in the end. Others absolutely hated Cregger’s take on the Umbrella scientists, whose incompetence ruined the final struggle for them.
“The ending was so abrupt. I loved everything leading up, and then it slipped on a banana peel at the end. I don’t hate it, but it’s a very awkward and rushed ending,” one viewer wrote on X.
“Bro I hate it so much, the first half was some of the most effective horror I’ve ever seen and I literally wouldn’t have complained if they went with the obvious ending, but they made it ridiculous for some reason and took away from the rest of the movie unfortunately,” another said.
“Hate the fact that everything was fine until the end, they had one job! Why use all that drama to raise a bad/sad ending?? That was forced, I’m sorry, I hated it,” yet another argued.
fucking hate the fact that everything's was fine until the end, they had one job!!!! why using all that drama to rise a bad/sad ending?? that was forced, im sorry, i hated it— 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢, yotra (@flxpjack) September 18, 2026
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fucking hate the fact that everything's was fine until the end, they had one job!!!! why using all that drama to rise a bad/sad ending?? that was forced, im sorry, i hated it
Bro I hate it so much, the first half was some of the most effective horror I’ve ever seen and i literally wouldn’t have complained if they went with the obvious ending but they made it ridiculous for some reason and took away from the rest of the movie unfortunately— Griffin (@GriffinResident) September 18, 2026
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Bro I hate it so much, the first half was some of the most effective horror I’ve ever seen and i literally wouldn’t have complained if they went with the obvious ending but they made it ridiculous for some reason and took away from the rest of the movie unfortunately
The ending was so abrupt. I loved everything leading up and then it slipped on a banana peel at the end. I don’t hate it but it’s a very awkward and rushed ending.— trazzy! (@Trazia_K) September 17, 2026
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The ending was so abrupt. I loved everything leading up and then it slipped on a banana peel at the end. I don’t hate it but it’s a very awkward and rushed ending.
Others, however, are pointing out that Bryan is essentially an NPC; the emotional voice note he records for his girlfriend, Michelle, is evidence of this, as it’s almost certainly something a player character like Leon would pick up as a bit of worldbuilding during exploration. After getting bitten, there was no way Bryan was going to survive; in the end, he was destined to be a background character in the overarching events of Resident Evil 2, and players will know that those folks basically never survive the circumstances they’ve been thrown into.
"Bryan wasn’t really the hero of the story. He was basically the guy whose whole night showed us how the next Resident Evil monster was created,” one wrote on X.
“Very few main characters walk away from the Resident Evil events untouched, even those that live are scarred in other ways. Not a stretch to see someone go through the grinder despite trying to do the right thing,” another said.
“So, Bryan is basically an NPC. The whole movie is showing how a Resident Evil monster actually gets created,” one user explained. “Most people were expecting Leon or Claire. He’s just a courier whose body becomes the next BOW.”
So Bryan is basically an NPC. The whole movie is showing how a Resident Evil monster actually gets created, most people were expecting Leon or Claire. He’s just courier whose body becomes the next BOW.The girl in the RV infects him early and the virus is cooking the whole night… https://t.co/gucim0ZbFm— supermom💕 (@ilovesupermom) September 21, 2026
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So Bryan is basically an NPC. The whole movie is showing how a Resident Evil monster actually gets created, most people were expecting Leon or Claire. He’s just courier whose body becomes the next BOW.The girl in the RV infects him early and the virus is cooking the whole night… https://t.co/gucim0ZbFm
very few main characters walk away from the Resident Evil events untouched, even those that live are scarred in other ways. Not a stretch to see someone go through the grinder despite trying to do the right thing.— 🎃ShinKagato🎃 (@ShinKagato) September 21, 2026
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very few main characters walk away from the Resident Evil events untouched, even those that live are scarred in other ways. Not a stretch to see someone go through the grinder despite trying to do the right thing.
Bryan wasn’t really the hero of the story, he was basically the guy whose whole night showed us how the next Resident Evil monster was created— ꪜ𝖎𝔃𝔃𝔂 ✞ (@sntvizzy) September 21, 2026
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Bryan wasn’t really the hero of the story, he was basically the guy whose whole night showed us how the next Resident Evil monster was created
Cregger’s ending even stunned lead actor Austin Abrams, who called it “crazy and shocking” when he first read the script.
"With a lot of movies nowadays, they’re a little too afraid to do something like that — to kill off a character you really like," he said. "And if they do, the blow is softened in some way so it doesn't hurt too much. Whereas a lot of older films don’t do that; they just rip your heart out. We're here to feel, man. We're here to go through something. So I'm just appreciative that Zach is willing to take a risk like that."
Cregger actually revealed that the ending we got wasn’t the original conclusion to the story; the director admitted that he’d filmed the sequence as a “contingency plan” in case the first ending didn’t hit the way he wanted it to.
We at IGN gave the flick an 8 out of 10, with reviewer Tom Jorgensen calling the movie a “simple and exciting survival horror story that benefits greatly from director Zach Cregger’s sensibilities.”