Until Dawn (2025) Movie Review

Until Dawn (2025) Movie Review

Horror video games have always been a staple of video games. One of the best received titles in recent years was the PlayStation 4 game ‘Until Dawn’, which debuted back in 2014 with strong reviews, holding an impressive 70 on Metacritic. The game was praised for its unique ‘butterfly effect’ mechanic, which saw the player make decisions in the game, that would ultimately affect the outcome and how the narrative would play out. This mechanic has since been used, including in studio Supermassive Studios follow-up ‘The Quarry’ in 2022, but not to this praise and effect. The format and style of the game lends itself to be adapted into a video game, and in April 2025, we finally got a big-screen adaptation of ‘Until Dawn’ from director David F Sandberg, who previously helmed ‘Lights out’ and ‘Annabelle: Creation’ for New Line Cinema, and superhero flicks ‘Shazam’ and its sequel ‘Shazam: Fury of The Gods’. Sandberg has a strong horror presence, getting his start on YouTube making inventive and truly terrifying short films. The film did solid numbers at the worldwide box office, bringing in just shy of $53 million, holding a solid 53% critical rating and 68% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. With Sandberg involved, Until Dawn had piqued my interest.

A group of friends—Clover (Ella Rubin), her ex-boyfriend Max (Michael Cimino), Nina (Odessa A’zion), Megan (Ji-young Yoo), and Abe (Belmont Cameli)—venture into the eerie Glore Valley to investigate the disappearance of Clover’s sister, Melanie (Maia Mitchell). After taking shelter in a mysterious visitor centre during a storm, they are attacked by a masked killer and wake up to find the night repeating itself. Trapped in a deadly time loop, they must uncover the valley’s secrets and survive until dawn—each death resetting the nightmare with new horrors. Peter Stormare reprises his role from the original game as the enigmatic Dr. Hill, adding a chilling psychological layer to the unfolding terror. The group must die over and over again to survive, but with each death, they find time is running out. As a fan of David F Sandberg and the video game, I was really excited to see this one, and am happy to report it was a fun, crowd-pleasing time!

The strengths of Until Dawn lie in the creative set-pieces and the clear homage being paid to some of the genre’s classics. David F. Sandberg clearly has a love for horror, which is evident by his short films on YouTube and professional career in Hollywood. He crafts some fun, and exciting set-pieces with its fun, core concept. The film doesn’t rely too heavily on the typical jump scares that feature in a lot of horror studio releases. Whilst yes, they’re still here, but when they are used, it feels in tone with the rest of the film, an almost meta look at the genre. Sandberg is the perfect director for the material; he understands the camp aspect of the film but also understands what is scary. It’s a fine line, but he toes it oh so well.

The cast are a lot of fun as well. We have a minimal cast, with the ensemble only consisting of 5 core actors: Ella Rubin as Clover, Michael Cimino as Max, Odessa A’zion as Nina, Ji-young Yoo as Megan, and Belmont Cameli as Abe. They’re all really solid here, with their characters all feeling like extensions of the game, playing them as an obvious homage to characters from the 1980s slashers like ‘Friday the 13th’,’ Sleepaway Camp’, ‘The Burning’ and even the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ series. Ella Rubin has appeared in two slashers recently, with a role in ‘Fear Street: Prom Night’ as well as ‘Until Dawn’ making a name for herself in the horror genre as a scream queen to watch! The carry over from the video game, is Peter Stormare reprising his role Dr. Hill. He is hamming it up, clearly having fun with the material here, adding a level of camp to the film. His interplay with the characters, especially in third act is a worthy addition and makes for some fun sequences.

‘Until Dawn’ borrows from a lot of other horror films, sometimes paying homage, and other times just as a blatant rip-off, and always to mediocre effect. The film has its moments, including some truly impressive production design and atmosphere, but unfortunately it fails to capture what made the game so much fun. By the third act, you feel worn down by the cliches and predictable scares, that it becomes quite exhausting. Still, it was a lot of fun to see in the cinemas with a decent crowd or on home media with a group of friends. Until Dawn is headed to DVD, Blu-Ray or 4K Ultra HD this July, so be sure to pre-order your copy from Sanity today, you won’t want to miss it!

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Christopher Pattison from Oz-Movie Geek wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here