- Primary Subject: Resident Evil: Requiem (Live-Action Prequel Short Film)
- Key Update: Capcom released a three-minute live-action short film highlighting the human cost of the T-Virus ahead of Resident Evil: Requiem.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: February 2, 2026
- Quick Answer: Capcom’s three-minute Resident Evil short film delivers stronger storytelling and emotional depth than past movies by focusing on human tragedy over action-driven fan service.
Capcom just dropped a live-action short film detailing the human costs of Umbrella’s vile attempt at poisoning Raccoon City with the T-Virus. While completely fictional, the three-minute prequel to Requiem demonstrates that Capcom has the talent to craft a great story, far exceeding their movie adaptations.
The short film stars Maika Monroe, known for her roles in “Longlegs” and “It Follows.” This horror actress bares her maternal side with her daughter as they spend their last days together in Raccoon City. Unfortunately, as they brave their way through the horrors, including the undead hordes and the Lickers, not even their bond is safe from the atrocities of the T-Virus outbreak.
Capcom’s live-action short film ended with Raccoon City as it is today, still standing after the U.S. Government dropped a nuke at the epicenter. We saw Maika Monroe’s unnamed character, still keeping some semblance of her personality, visiting her daughter’s grave.
Monroe’s character is a direct build-up for Requiem’s new strain of zombies, where they still “retain some memories of their past lives” before the infection. We’ve tackled it before, where Requiem might showcase the series’s best undead with its melancholic eyes and pangs of their past life. The short film was aimed to reangle that the zombies weren’t really the franchise’s major threat, but Umbrella itself.
The RE movies never really bothered adding much nuance to their storylines. Resident Evil: Vendetta, Damnation, Degeneration, and Death Island barely scratch the surface of the franchise’s potential for stories that resonate with its older audiences. They do a decent job showing just how unstoppable the main cast, like Leon Kennedy and Chris Redfield, are, but they rarely focus on the human side of Resident Evil. There is so much to unpack from the trauma of legacy characters like Jill Valentine or Rebecca Chambers after their harrowing events in earlier RE titles. Capcom’s refusal to acknowledge them in lieu of John Wick-like action scenes feels cheap.
More often than not, the animated films feel like popcorn flicks made largely for fan servicefan service. While they usually attract fans of the series, many don’t even pay attention to the story, choosing instead to watch their favorite characters duke it out against Bio-Organic threats.
Not even Paul W.S. Anderson’s movies manage to top that brief three-minute short film.
There is real potential for a strong Resident Evil story centered on unnamed survivors. While Capcom has explored this idea before through characters like Ethan Winters in Resident Evil 7 and Village, the company has never fully committed to these characters without eventually shoehorning in legacy faces.
The upcoming Resident Evil movie from Zach Cregger, director of last year’s acclaimed horror film Weapons, feels like the right opportunity to explore these human themes without sacrificing the series’ signature horror and bloodshed. While details about the movie remain scarce, Cregger’s talent for telling horror stories through multiple perspectives sounds like a smart fit for a franchise built around ensemble casts.
It is high time Capcom acknowledged the shortcomings of its canon animated movies and learns from the recently released short film on how to tell a compelling story without leaning on nostalgia and fan service. With Resident Evil: Requiem arriving this month, perhaps Capcom has learned a lesson or two about telling more nuanced stories. We will not know for sure until we get our hands on it.
You can watch the short film below:
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