Underrated Resident Evil Movie Trending Ahead Of New Release

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Claire and Leon walking down a hall in Resident Evil Welcome to Raccoon City

Published Mar 4, 2026, 10:00 AM EST

Kevin Pantoja is a writer and editor at Screen Rant based in New York City, where he brings deep expertise in blockbuster franchises ranging from Harry Potter and Spider‑Man to Succession and the MCU. A passionate storyteller with a creative writing degree (Valedictorian, Full Sail University), Kevin blends entertainment news, feature essays, and pop‑culture commentary into engaging, audience-first content

When it comes to the best video game movies, not a lot of people would put installments of the Resident Evil franchise on the list. The games are mostly beloved and among the most iconic in the survival horror genre, but the movies have mostly been something of a mixed bag.

That said, if people are thinking about the Resident Evil films, their minds typically go to the main series from Paul W. S. Anderson that starred Milla Jovovich. However, not many people talk about the reboot from 2021, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which is currently trending on Hulu.

Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City Is Overlooked

Critical reception for the Resident Evil movies has never been great. The highest Rotten Tomatoes score is the 37% that Resident Evil: The Final Chapter holds. The games are still wildly popular though, so a reboot coming after the original series ended made sense.

However, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City was released in 2021 when audiences were still not too comfortable returning to theaters. That means that it was mostly overlooked and is easily the lowest-grossing installment in the franchise at just over $40 million.

That said, it's a solid horror movie. The film clearly takes inspiration from the game, while the Paul W. S. Anderson installments often veered into the territory of doing its own thing. It's worth noting that Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City has a Popcornmeter score of 65%, which is the second-highest of the series, showing that audiences liked it.

The Cast Of Welcome To Raccoon City Is Actually Quite Good

resident evil welcome to raccoon city main characters

One of the best things going for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is that it features a talented cast. The film is led by Kaya Scodelario, who did great work on Skins and in The Maze Runner films. She plays iconic game character Claire Redfield, while Thunderbolts* star Hannah John-Kamen plays Jill Valentine.

There's also Avan Jogia of Zombieland: Double Tap fame, Tom Hopper of The Umbrella Academy, and Robbie Amell from Upload. Veterans Neal McDonagh and Donal Logue are also part of this well-rounded cast that helped bump the quality of the film up.

A New Resident Evil Movie Is Coming In 2026

Zach Cregger directs Julia Garner behind the scenes of Weapons

It's a bit surprising to see Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City in Hulu's top 10 given that it's such a forgotten movie. However, a possible reason for its bump in views could be the impending arrival of a new Resident Evil movie.

Another reboot of the franchise, this film will come from director Zach Cregger. He's one of the hottest names in horror filmmaking thanks to his work on Barbarian and Weapons, two of the most-talked about and best-reviewed recent horror movies.

Cregger has said that it will be an original story set in the franchise's universe and it's a story he'd have told even without the IP. That could mean that Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is the last installment that's somewhat true to the game, yet there's still excitement about the series' future.