Until Dawn (2025) – A Chilling, Chaotic Dive into Game-to-Screen Horror

Let’s be real—turning a choice-driven horror game into a movie isn’t an easy ask. You’re stripping out the control, the decisions, the panic. So I went into Until Dawn expecting a mess… and ended up with something way more ambitious—and way weirder—than I was ready for.

Right from the start, the film sets the tone: snowy isolation, missing sister, and a group of friends marching straight into the dark. Classic setup. But here’s where it hooks you—they’re stuck in a loop. Every night resets. Every scare resets. And no one’s safe, no matter how many times they try to get it right.

Ella Rubin carries the film. Her performance as Clover isn’t just strong—it’s grounded. She’s the one thing holding this spiraling nightmare together. You believe her fear. You believe her fight. She’s not your typical final girl—she’s doing the work while everyone else is either freaking out or falling apart.

Director David F. Sandberg brings serious atmosphere. Snow-covered cabins, flickering lanterns, distorted voices in the woods—this thing looks good. And when the horror hits, it hits. There’s a breath-holding sequence that brought the tension up to eleven. It’s simple. It’s effective. And it’s straight out of the game in the best way.

But here’s where things get messy. The movie can’t quite settle on what kind of horror it wants to be. One minute it’s creature-feature, the next it’s ghost story, then it swerves into psychological dread. It’s not that any of it’s bad—it’s just a lot. The result feels a bit overloaded, like it wanted to honor every scare from the source material but didn’t stop to ask what would land best on film.

The pacing drags in spots, especially during the second act. Once the time loop concept wears off its shine, it starts feeling like a broken record. You want it to move. You want the stakes to rise. Thankfully, the third act delivers and gives the chaos some clarity.

There are clichés, for sure. Some side characters feel pulled from the “cabin-in-the-woods” starter pack. But in between all the familiar beats, there’s real heart—especially in the story between the sisters. That emotional core is what sticks.

Until Dawn doesn’t play it safe, and I respect that. It goes all in on atmosphere and concept, even if it bites off more than it can chew. As a horror fan? I had a damn good time. As someone who loved the game? I saw the effort, and I appreciate it.

A flawed but fun ride that dares to swing big. Not perfect, but definitely worth a scream or two.