Clover (Ella Rubin) takes her friends Max (Michael Cimino), Nina (Odessa A’zion), Megan (Ji-young Yoo) and Abe (Belmont Cameli) to a remote cabin as she desperately searches for answers about the disappearance of her sister Melanie (Maia Mitchell). Shortly after arriving at the cabin, the group is attacked and murdered before time turns back and they find themselves back at the start of the same evening. Trapped in a time loop, the group has a limited number of chances to escape death by surviving until dawn but in order to do so, they have to face their darkest fears.
‘Until Dawn’ is based on the hugely popular 2015 game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. That game featured the likenesses and voices of Rami Malek and Hayden Panettiere, and threw the player into the midst of a horror movie where they choices they made created a butterfly effect. That meant the game had huge replay value due to its different twists and turns based on the decisions you made. For the film adaptation, that mechanic is kind of present but the overall story bears little resemblance to the game. Of course, the viewer can’t influence events the way that players could with the game so instead the ‘groundhog day’ time loop is used to show that the characters’ choices have different results.
The thin storyline revolves around Clover trying to find out what happened to her sister but once the time loop mechanism kicks in, this part of the plot is largely forgotten. In its place is a series of effective horror set-pieces that showcase the different ways that the group of youngsters can be murdered. From mask wearing maniacs to exploding body parts, the writers and director try to be creative but it’s not enough to make a coherent and compelling film. Any attempt to explain why the group is locked in a time loop is lost among the carnage, and honestly it doesn’t matter how hard you try, the film just doesn’t make much sense.
With a cast as strong as this, I’d really expected a lot better. Led by Ella Rubin, the cast does a solid job despite not getting much material to work with. Rubin’s Clover is given just about enough character development but none of the other characters are. Michael Cimino, best-known for ‘Love, Victor’, is totally wasted as Clover’s ex-boyfriend and Odessa A’zion’s usual quirkiness is dampened by a two-dimensional character. Peter Stormare chews the scenery as he reprises his role as Dr. Hill from the game, but he’s not in it enough to truly make an impact.
‘Until Dawn’ can be added to the depressingly long list of video game adaptations that just didn’t really work. There’s a cool idea in here somewhere, and had the film stuck closer to the source material it would have been better, but you can’t help feeling it’s just a montage of classic horror film moments shoe-horned into a barely-there narrative. The young cast of the film deserve better and fans of the game do too.
Cast: Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A’zion, Ji-young Yoo, Belmont Cameli, Maia Mitchell, Peter Stormare Director: David F. Sandberg Writers: Gary Dauberman & Blair Butler Certificate: 15 Duration: 103 mins Released by: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Release date: 10th June 2025 (Digital) Buy ‘Until Dawn’ now
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