Until Dawn Summary and Review - Press Play. Die. Repeat

Until Dawn (2025) brings the popular horror game to the big screen, and like most game-to-film adaptations, it arrives with plenty of expectations. The story follows a group of friends trapped in a remote mountain lodge, where bad decisions and buried secrets turn deadly. It’s a mix of slasher tension and supernatural chills that tries to recreate the sense of unease and consequence that made the original game so memorable. The question is whether it succeeds — or if something gets lost in translation along the way.

A Promising Setup

Clover and her four friends set off on a road trip to retrace the steps of Clover’s sister, Mel, who disappeared a year earlier. Along the way, they learn of a remote area where several people have gone missing over the years, and curiosity drives them to investigate. Caught in a brutal storm, they stumble upon an abandoned house and begin to explore. Evidence suggests Mel had been there before — and it’s not long before a masked killer strikes, murdering them all in gruesome fashion. But then, inexplicably, the group wakes up, alive and back at the beginning. As the cycle repeats, they realise they’re trapped in a nightmarish time loop of murderous mayhem, with no clue how to escape.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of this one. On the plus side, it’s well shot, the story is coherent, and the acting is decent across the board. The characters are likeable — refreshingly, no one is truly awful — and the central idea has promise. But the pacing is uneven, and the narrative feels jerky, riddled with gaps that beg for answers. It starts with a glimmer of self-awareness, suggesting it might lean into a tongue-in-cheek horror vibe — playfully acknowledging the tropes it utilises — but it seems to forget this, and what follows is a muddled mix of clichés where the clever tone is lost.

A Story of Peaks and Troughs

There are a few solid jump scares — some predictable, others nicely timed — but the kills, while initially entertaining, become repetitive. They lack the variety of Cabin in the Woods or the inventive time-loop creativity of Happy Death Day. There is, however, one standout sequence that manages to be shocking, darkly funny, and genuinely horrific. The practical effects deserve credit too — but once you’ve seen the trick, the impact quickly wears off.

When the tension ramps up, it works, but this is a film of sudden peaks and troughs. One minute your heart starts to race, the next the tempo drops like a stone. Those quieter moments could have been used to explore clues or deepen the mystery, but instead they drift, and the story starts to meander. Although it redeems itself slightly towards the end with a well-staged chase sequence, it’s not enough to elevate it above the ordinary.

A Moral Thread

The film carries a moral thread about loyalty and friendship, but the lack of character development and backstory means those themes don’t quite land. While references to Clover’s personal struggles add potential depth, they’re never fully woven into the story’s fabric, leaving the characters less relatable and the narrative less resonant. It also hints at an intriguing idea — monsters born from human fragility and spiralling into homicidal mania — but without a clear motive or deeper reasoning, the concept falls flat.

In the end, Until Dawn swings between promise and frustration. One moment you’re thinking “ahh!”, the next it’s “oh.” Not terrible, but undeniably disappointing — a missed opportunity to capture the quality and atmosphere that made the original game so compelling.

2.5/5

Clover: Ella Rubin
Max: Michael Cimino
Nina: Odessa A’zion
Megan: Ji-young Yoo
Abe: Belmont Cameli
Mel: Maia Mitchell
Alan Hill: Peter Stormare
Director: David F. Sandberg
Writer: Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler
Release Year: 2025
Runtime: 103 minutes