Sony is increasingly betting on synergies. It’s no secret. Its two major battlefields right now are anime and video games, and its idea is to exploit them as closely as possible, especially after seeing how well its major video game IPs can perform when brought to the big screen. Something it has only done so far with live-action films.
Because all the movies based on Sony’s major video games have been successful. Perhaps not among critics and certainly not among fans of these IPs, but they have managed to perform in what matters most to executives: making good box office numbers. This is also true for their latest approach, which, while not the best movie of 2025, is quite better than its also recent remake. We are talking about the film adaptation of Until Dawn.
A movie that has successfully adapted the video game
Adapting the 2015 video game by Supermassive Games, the original already had everything to be a movie. After all, Until Dawn put us in the shoes of eight young adults who went on vacation to the Blackwood Mountains where, due to various circumstances, they found themselves being pursued by a serial killer. Closely following the premises of slasher horror films, the game made us make decisions that ultimately led to the survival or death of our characters, in a butterfly effect that changed the game based on what we decided to do at any given moment.
While its non-linear format and the possibility that several, all, or none of the characters survive do not fit well with cinema, the fact that it is heavily inspired by horror films from the 70s and 80s does. This is something that can be seen in the movie.
Directed by David F. Sandberg, the director of the two Shazam movies and Annabelle: Creation, the film starts from the same premise as the original video game, with a twist to justify everything that happens in it. We won’t reveal it here, as we want to avoid spoilers, but it is a very clever way to justify the constant loops of the original game and explains everything that happens up to this point in the movie, giving it a very unique style and a somewhat different feel compared to other contemporary horror films.
Costing only 15 million dollars, the movie was a fairly modest success. Grossing 54 million at the box office, the film performed especially well in the United States and Canada, demonstrating that it remains the main territory for this type of films.
Unfortunately for Sony, the movie was a bit of a disaster in terms of critical reception and public opinion. With a 52% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 47 on Metacritic, the movie is rated worse than well. And considering it received a C+ on CinemaScore on a scale from A+ to F and a 63% positive rating on PostTrak from the audience, it doesn’t seem like a movie that will receive approval for a sequel. Even if, for a part of the audience that includes us, it is an enjoyable movie under the right conditions: a silly afternoon with plenty of popcorn and a good soda.
Moreover, it’s easy for you to get it. Now more than ever. The movie is now available to watch on Movistar Plus+ and to rent on AppleTV, making it easier than ever to watch it on a lazy afternoon. And if you do it knowing what you’re in for, it could very well be a good afternoon.
