There Was a Better Way to Do an 'Until Dawn' Movie

And that was not it. Brief spoilers for 'Until Dawn' and 'Until Dawn'

I’m very jealous of people who can sit down, pick apart movies, and come up with beautiful conclusions.

I took a film studies class in my one and only year of university, and I don’t really think I learned much of anything; no fault to the instructor, I just find it impossible to learn anything new these days.

But I think seeing a poor adaptation of my favorite video-game-I’ve-never-played as a teenager has really lit a fire under me to dig deep into criticism, dissection, and what could’ve been done differently to make a faithful, loose adaptation.

There was a proper way somewhere out there to adapt the Playstation game ‘Until Dawn’ as a movie, but unfortunately, “Until Dawn” was not it.

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ICYMI: ‘Until Dawn’ is a survival, story-based horror game from Supermassive Games that launched on the Playstation 4 in 2015, and the game was remastered for Playstation 5 as well as PC in October of 2024. I discovered this game roughly around the release date via Markiplier’s playthrough on YouTube. (I was 14, don’t judge me)

Quick recap of the story: 10 friends are staying adult-free at a remote lodge in the wintery mountains, a classic start to any horror media. The group plays a prank on Hannah Washington, and when the truth is revealed behind the actions taking place, Hannah takes off into the woods pursued by her twin sister, Beth Washington. The two fall off a cliff after being chased by a flamethrower-wielding stranger, and they are not seen again.

One year later, the remaining 7 group members are invited up to the Washington’s lodge by Josh Washington, the younger brother of Hannah and Beth. At this point, you meet your playable characters: Sam, Chris, Jessica, Mike, Emily, Ashley, and Matt. (Could they have gotten any more basic with the names?)

You spend the game playing rotationally between the 7 playable characters as they try to survive ‘Until Dawn’ over the next 9 chapters in a Choose Your Own Adventure/Butterfly Effect story. Each chapter begins with a therapy session from Dr. Hill, where you make choices that will affect your gameplay.

The big baddie/”villain” of the game is a supernatural creature with roots in Algonquin folklore called a Wendigo. You learn more about the in-game lore surrounding the Wendigos by collecting totems around the different locations in the game.

Throughout the game you are faced with the characters’ survival and have the option to save or kill them- all up to your personal preference! By the final chapter, it’s revealed that Hannah survived the cliff fall, ate Beth, turned into a Wendigo and Josh is behind most of the disasters this evening as revenge for the prank played on his sister leading to both his sisters dying.

The game endings (especially after the remastered version where two new endings were added) vary based on who lives and dies, what choices you made, and in what order you do it all. The game’s themes rely heavily on the past relationships, current friendships, and mental health of the characters and could be an allegory for anything, really.

It’s a fantastic game and became an intense hyperfixation of mine in the 9th grade- I’ve mellowed out since then fandom-wise, but it still remains in my Top 10 Games Of All Time, even though I’ve never actually played it myself.

In January of 2024, a film adaptation of ‘Until Dawn’ was announced. David F. Sandberg (‘Shazam!’, ‘Annabelle: Creation’) would be directing, and the script would be written by Gary Dauberman (‘Annabelle: Creation’).

The film stars Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A'zion, Ji-young Yoo, Belmont Cameli, and Peter Stormare (who plays Dr. Hill in the game!). Wow, if they’re bringing him back it oughta be a direct retelling of the game’s story… right?

“One year after her sister Melanie mysteriously disappeared, Clover and her friends head into the remote valley where she vanished in search of answers. Exploring an abandoned visitor center, they find themselves stalked by a masked killer and horrifically murdered one by one…only to wake up and find themselves back at the beginning of the same evening. Trapped in the valley, they’re forced to relive the nightmare again and again - only each time the killer threat is different, each more terrifying than the last. Hope dwindling, the group soon realizes they have a limited number of deaths left, and the only way to escape is to survive until dawn.” - Cineplex

‘Until Dawn’, the film, is kind of like a production team found out 10 minutes before the final day of shooting that they were allowed to make this an ‘Until Dawn’ movie. I’ve seen some decent reviews of it from people that were able to separate it from the game’s legacy when watching and view it as its own piece of media- but in that case, why not just retitle the movie? Besides 2 easter eggs (that I will discuss later), there’s really nothing truly connecting it to the story of the game or it’s characters.

I was knowingly disappointed leaving, since the trailers made it obvious this was not going to be the wintery survival story we had known and loved for 10 years, and was now basically just using its name and the Psycho’s mask to get butts in seats.

There’s a right way this film could have been done- not by me of course! By someone with a lot more experience and creativity and money and expertise and on and on and on…

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Here’s how I think ‘Until Dawn’ could have succeeded on screen:

1. Make it a limited series, not a movie. It gives a lot more time to learn about the characters, their relationships, and being able to tell the full story beyond a 90-120 minute time limit.

2. Keep the story the same, but just change up the characters. I think one of the reasons why the film was forced to create new characters in a new setting is due to just how rooted the ‘Until Dawn’ game characters are in their in-game appearances, A.K.A the real-life actors that played them in 2015 and are all now in their 40s and too old to play college students. (Though I’m sure they would certainly try to cast them again.)

3. No golden ending. This was one aspect of the film I hated. Yes, the game has the ability for you to save all 8 characters, but transferring that to a movie has like, no logic? When was the last time you watched a horror movie where everyone survived? Essentially a reverse ‘Final Destination’.

4. Keep it in the winter! The stakes are so much higher in the snow; look at ‘Yellowjackets’! If you crash on a deserted island, hide from the sun under some foliage and cool down in the water. Crash in the middle of the woods during winter? You better hope you can start a fire and keep your body safe from frostbite with clothes and proper shelters. In the game, even if you escaped the Wendigos, you might not escape your own demise if not properly dressed for the wintery climate.

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I did not care about the film’s characters. I really did not care who lived or died, because I barely knew anything about anyone but Clover and very basic relationships between her and the other 4 characters.

My biggest gripe with the film outside the story was how dated their fashion and costuming decisions will be in the future, and not in a charming way like 80s, 90s, or even early 2000s horror films.

Why couldn’t the girls wear full shirts? Why are they all in crop tops? Why are the boys dressed for fall weather? Why did no one change their clothes to be more equipped for the challenges they were facing?

We see earlier in the film that Clover’s missing/presumed dead sister, Melanie, is stuck in this time loop in a very short, flowery dress. First off, who’s wearing that on a road trip? Second of all, how did it always fall to perfectly keep her underwear covered even as a Wendigo? Does this even matter or am I just insane?

The character’s outfits are something the game adaptation got really well. Yeah, sure, they don’t look like they know what TikTok or Aritzia is like the movie protagonists- but I think that’s okay! The curse of micro-trends in visual media is really going to have its effects on “vintage fashion” in about 40 years- but that is a completely different topic for a completely different time.

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For fans of the game hoping for easter eggs in the film, they are far and few between, all nestled in the final 20 minutes.

A shot of Rami Malek’s character Josh Washington on a file on Dr Hill’s desk and the surveillance TVs in Dr Hill’s office switching to the Washington’s Lodge as the final shot of the film.

Where does that put us timeline-wise? Are we seeing a prequel? The lodge burnt down at the end of the game. Was it meticulously rebuilt in extreme detail and will now be grounds for a sequel?

And in terms of the game’s remaster, there’s an ending where Josh survives the Wendigo attack he can face, and Dr. Hill can be heard saying he “…hopes [Josh] can find redemption.”. Is the redemption related to the therapy notes on Hill’s desk in the movie? What is going on?

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I guess it’s like a token part of being a fan of video games that eventually they will adapt your favorite game and it will mostly fall flat. And it sucks that it happened to ‘Until Dawn’.

I think Supermassive Games’ other horror survival game, ‘The Quarry’, will suffer the same film adaptation treatment in the next 4-6 years- and once I finally figure out how to do the Quick Time Events in that game, I will have something to say about that adaptation years down the road.

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