Until Dawn (Film)

Until Dawn
Based on	Until Dawn by Supermassive Games
Director	David F. Sandberg
Producer	David F. Sandberg Gary Dauberman Mia Maniscalco Lotta Losten Roy Lee Asad Qizilbash Carter Swan
Writers	Blair Butler Gary Dauberman
Cinematography	Maxime Alexandre
Cast	Ella Rubin Michael Cimino Ji-young Yoo Odessa A'zion Maia Mitchell Belmont Cameli Peter Stormare
Composer	Benjamin Wallfisch
Run time	103 minutes
Filming location	Budapest, Hungary
Release date	April 25, 2025
Country	United States
Language	English
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Budget	$15 million
Box Office	$54 million

“

Every night a different nightmare.

”

Until Dawn is a film directed by David F. Sandberg and written by Blair Butler and Gary Dauberman, released in theaters on April 25, 2025. It was produced by Screen Gems and PlayStation Productions.

The film is based on the 2015 game Until Dawn, created by Supermassive Games. While the film differs from the game in story, cast and location, it is set in the same continuity as the game, serving as a spin-off that expands the lore of the universe.

The film grossed over $53.6 million worldwide. It was released on Blu-ray, 4K UHD Blu-ray and DVD on July 8, 2025, and added to streaming service Netflix on July 24, 2025.

Description

A group of friends have until dawn to escape a death loop, where mysterious foes are chasing and killing them in gruesome ways. They must find their missing friend and answers about the loop before it is too late.

Production

In January 2024, Screen Gems and PlayStation Productions revealed they were developing a live-action film adaptation of the video game Until Dawn. The project was set to be directed by David F. Sandberg, with a screenplay by Gary Dauberman, building on an earlier draft written by Blair Butler. The film was described as "an R-rated love letter to the horror genre, with an ensemble cast."

The first look at the film was shown in a teaser interview with Sandberg, Dauberman and Peter Stormare, who returns in the role of Hill.

Premise

On October 24, 2024, one year after her sister Melanie mysteriously disappeared, Clover and her friends head into "Glore Valley," the remote abandoned mining town located in Pennsylvania, where she vanished in search of answers. Exploring an abandoned visitor's 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 on October 24, but in 1998. Stuck in time, they're forced to relieve 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 (13 nights), and the only way to escape is to survive until dawn.

Plot

Opening Scene

The film begins with Melanie digging her way out of the ground, fleeing from a Wendigo who had been dragging her. When she gets out, the Slasher is already waiting for her. She begs to be spared, saying she cannot take dying again, but he kills her with a pickaxe.

One Year Later

A year later, Melanie's sister Clover and her four friends Max, Megan, Nina, and Abe, arrive at a gas station which appears in a video Melanie had taken before her disappearance a year prior. Clover goes inside, buys a soda, and shows a picture of Melanie to the attendant. Clover is surprised when the man correctly assumes that Melanie has gone missing; he states that many have gone missing in Glore Valley which is just up the road. Clover leaves and tells her friends that she knows where Melanie last was.

The five are next seen driving through a torrential downpour. A fight breaks out between Abe, the driver, who wants to press forward, and all the passengers who wish to turn around again. Just when tensions reach their highest, the car bursts through the rain into a completely clear area. Here, there is a visitor center and one wooden cross which appears to be a grave marker. The group find the area ominous but Nina, Abe, and Megan begin to explore the visitor center. Nina observes an hourglass and a visitor book, Megan checks the bathroom, and Abe examines some fliers on the wall.

Meanwhile, Clover stands at the border between the clear area and the rainstorm. She sees a figure she believes is Melanie and runs into the rain. Max notices this and pursues her. Inside, Nina sees Melanie’s name repeating and getting more messy in the guest book. She is called by Abe who shows her many missing posters which seem to lack purpose because there is no information written on them. One poster is for Melanie. Max pulls Clover from the rain and the group reconvenes.

Night One: Slasher

Nina tells Clover about Melanie’s name and signs her own name into the guest book. Abe then notices that his car is missing. The group sees its headlights out in the rain, and believe someone has taken the car. They go to approach the person, but the car rushes forward, causing Abe to usher them all back inside.

Clover, Max, and Megan go down into the basement where they find a radio, and Max notes that it is strange for a basement to have windows. Nina and Abe remain upstairs. Nina calls for Abe, and he doesn’t respond. She goes to find him, becoming more and more apprehensive as she approaches the room where he last was. She turns on the lights to find that Abe has been cut in half by the Slasher—a tall man in overalls and a skull-like mask. She is then also attacked.

Those downstairs hear Nina scream and run up only to find her on the floor with a pickaxe in her back. Clover, Max, and Megan rush back downstairs to hide. The Slasher looks for them, and Max emerges from hiding in an attempt to knock the Slasher out with a chair. The attack does no damage, and the Slasher stabs Max through the face, pulling his eye out with a knife. Next, the Slasher locates Megan, throws her out of a closet and kills her by repeatedly bashing her face on the ground. Clover tries to run into the woods, but thinks she sees Melanie again and is impaled by the Slasher.

Night Two: Witch

The hourglass reverses, and all five friends come to in the place they were when the loop started. They all bear marks from how they were killed. Abe calls for them and shows that they each now have a missing poster with the others. The front door begins to slam and the group barricades it. Megan sits and begins to show signs of fatigue. Max checks on her and she says that her psychic connection is giving her trouble. She begins to have seizures then disappears. The others find her, in a trance, hovering before the fliers. She begins pointing her finger and channeling the missing peoples’ voices. She begins screaming, telling the others “not to let them in” before snapping her neck and dying. Max goes to her, but Abe yells at him not to touch her body, saying Max could become possessed next. Angrily, Max says possession cannot be caught that way, and that people have to be open to it.

The group hears Melanie’s voice at the door. Despite Megan's warnings, Clover opens the door and tries to go to her sister; she is then dragged away by an invisible force to a shack that has appeared on the grounds. Max tries to hurry to her aid, but is stopped by Abe who tries to reason with him, saying Clover is beyond help and that they must leave with Nina. Meanwhile, Clover wakes up inside the shack and spots an elderly woman watching television. The woman breathes using a mask and views a news report about a mining accident in Glore Valley. Clover attempts to ask the woman questions then tries to leave. The woman, revealing herself to be a witch, attacks Clover and has her breathe into the mask which possesses her as the woman crumbles away.

Max refuses to go with Abe and heads to the shack to find Clover. Abe and Nina run to the car, and Abe locks the car door to keep Nina inside. He tries to drive away, but a giant blocks their path. The Slasher appears and kills Abe. Nina, unable to flee the locked car, is also killed. Inside the shack, Max goes upstairs and sees a clown doll in a rocking chair. He comments on it and throws it, before turning and seeing Clover who is still possessed by the Witch and now wearing a mask. She uses a knife to slash him to death and then walks out of the shack. The Slasher appears in Abe’s car and hits Clover, killing her.

Night Three: Bad Water

The hourglass reverses again, bringing them to the third night. The group lock themselves in the bathroom in an attempt to wait things out. Abe fills a glass with tap water which surprises Megan who’d previously tried the tap and found that it didn’t work. He takes a drink and asks who else wants water. Everyone accepts his offer. As they talk, Abe begins to cough more and more. Looking into his palm, he sees that he has thrown up blood and bits of his insides. He tries to hide it but the group notices how much he’s hacking. Nina attempts to ask him if he’s okay, and he explodes over everyone. Having gotten blood and gore into her mouth, Nina panics and rushes to the sink where she also explodes. Clover, Max, and Megan become hysterical and run into the hall. Megan’s leg explodes off her and she falls, her stomach expanding. It bursts, killing her. Clover begs Max to kill her and puts his hands on her throat. However, he cannot do it and explodes. Clover falls to the ground. She listens to some whistle. When the person arrives before her, she sees that it is the gas station attendant, Hill. She explodes, covering him in blood.

Night Four: Wendigo

The group begins to notice their bodies beginning to change; Megan stands in front of the mirror and pulls out a clump of hair. She notices that she is growing teeth. Everyone decides to go into the basement to find clues. They discover some old VHS tapes and ID cards from Dr. Hill whom Clover recognizes as the gas station attendant. The tapes show that Hill has been experimenting with the death loop and that, if a person is stuck in it for thirteen nights, they will become a Wendigo. The group realizes that the basement has windows because it used to be the first floor but has fallen into the mines along with the rest of Glore Valley.

Hill then talks to the group through a speaker and tells them that the loop must claim someone, but four may be able to leave. Abe jumps on the idea, and the group is horrified that he is even considering it. When Hill says that he is willing to speak to Clover alone in the woods, Abe presses more, saying that one dying is better than five. He is then forced to admit that he is not willing to be the one who dies. Clover runs out into the woods and gets caught in a bear trap, while the others begin to argue. Abe insinuates that Max is trying so hard to protect Clover because he wants to be her boyfriend again. Then, Abe argues that Clover has attempted suicide before, so she is the one who would be the best choice to die. Enraged, Nina tells him off then stabs him in the back so that he will be unable to attempt to survive the night without the others. Max and Megan run after Clover while Nina stays with Abe.

Clover is attacked by Melanie who is now a Wendigo. Inside the house, Nina holds Abe and talks to him. She looks up and sees the Slasher. She says that she wants to go first, and Abe asks what she means before looking up to see the Slasher attack them.

Max and Megan are finding Clover, but then a Wendigo chases them. Max loses Megan when she falls through the ground and into the basement where a Wendigo drags her away, presumably killing her. He eventually finds Clover and snaps the trap over Melanie’s head and they flee. The two hide, sharing a tender moment in which Max says that life is worth more when there's only one to live. Clover, again, asks him to kill her. This time he does, using a shard of glass to slit her neck. He then drinks some nearby water and blows up in front of Melanie when she spots him.

Night Thirteen: Found Footage and Ending

Clover has a dream which is a memory of herself and Melanie. Melanie says that she cannot stay in the house anymore and needs to go out into the world. She begs Clover to come with her, but Clover refuses. Melanie then appears as a Wendigo, scaring Clover who wakes up to Max, Abe, and Nina around her. They are confused by which night they are on, then Nina says that the book shows that she has signed thirteen times, meaning they are on their last night. Abe recalls that he has been recording the whole time and opens his phone gallery to find found footage of the missing nights.

They notice that Megan is missing. Now armed with weapons, they decide to go into the mines to look for Megan, but they eventually get separated by the Slasher, leaving Nina, Abe, and Max to fight him - as well as Wendigos - off, while Clover continues on her own. Clover is able to kill Wendigo Melanie, telling her that she loves her before leaving. After an encounter with another Wendigo, she finds a way out of the mines into the Sanatorium. Here, She finds Megan trapped in a chamber with a shackled Wendigo, but cannot enter the room without a key. Leaving Megan, she finds Hill’s office where he stands drinking coffee. He places his mug on the desk and the two chat. He explains that Glore valley has been using her fears like a “battery” to make things run, and that the monsters that have been hunting the friends each night are a manifestation of Clover's own fears. For example, the explosion deaths caused by bad water originate from her ''self-destructive tendencies.'' Clover views some patient files, including one for Josh Washington, before secretly moving Hill’s mug so that it catches water from the ceiling. Hill drinks the coffee and explodes.

The last minutes until dawn are spent in a mad race to escape. Max, Abe, and Nina work together to finally kill the Slasher before escaping from the house. Clover finds a key and goes back to Megan, barely saving her before the Wendigo breaks loose. Together, Megan and Clover hurry to escape the mines. They dig their way above ground, similarly to Melanie had done at the beginning. But, this time, it is their friends who are waiting for them. Abe, Nina, and Max pull Clover and Megan from the ground (where the cross seen previously is). The girls are freed just as the hourglass marks the end of the night. Having successfully beaten the curse, the group piles into Abe’s car and drives from the visitor center.

The movie ends with Hill whistling and watching some monitors. The feed shows a car arriving at a snowy lodge, an Easter egg for the similarly set Washington Lodge from the Until Dawn game.

Cast

The film does not feature the original cast of the game, with the exception of Peter Stormare, who reprises his role of Dr. Alan J. Hill. He is treated as the main antagonist of the film.

Main Cast

• Ella Rubin as Clover Paul
• Michael Cimino as Max
• Ji-young Yoo as Megan
• Odessa A'zion as Nina Riley
• Belmont Cameli as Abe

Supporting Cast

• Maia Mitchell as Melanie Paul
• Peter Stormare as Hill/Dr. Hill

Antagonists

• The Slasher
• The Glore Witch
• The Gods
• Bad Water
• The Glore Wendigos
• Werewolf (picture only/deleted scene)
• The Siren Alarm (video only)
• The Parasite Worms (video only)
• The Cloaked Man (video only)
• Hill/Dr. Hill

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Until Dawn holds a rating of 52% out of 103 critic reviews and a more favorable audience score of 68%. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 47 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews, with a user score of 5.3.

Some critics claimed the deviation from the game was too big. Zofia Wijaszka of The Film Nerdette wrote: ''There are ways to make the films so that both game and film/television fans are happy. Sadly, David F. Sandberg’s adaptation of Supermassive Games’ creation, "Until Dawn", isn’t one of those films. [...] Sandberg crams in too many theories, some of which are never explained or developed throughout the story.'' Dallas King of FILMHOUNDS wrote: ''The original game was devised as a “love letter to horror movies.” This movie feels like a love letter written by ChatGPT. One devoid of any heart, soul or originality,'' while Harry Stainer of Empire Online wrote: ''Until Dawn wants to carve its own path, separate from its source material. Ironically, in trying to be different, it ends up feeling more clichéd than ever.''

Positive reviews praise the film's atmosphere, gore and kills, and use of horror tropes: ''Until Dawn is clearly a horror movie made by fans of the genre--and with each blood-curdling moment, we can't wait to see what comes next. This is a delightfully gory love letter to horror with buckets of blood and stellar practical effects.'' Amanda Mazzillo of Film Joy Reviews writes. ScreenRant praised Until Dawn's production design and story: ''Until Dawn takes the trope of the time loop & raises the stakes, immersing us in a thrilling & dynamic world of characters we can't stop rooting for.''

Awards and Nominations

Date	Ceremony	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2025	The Game Awards	Best Adaptation	Until Dawn	TBA

Trivia

• The film follows five protagonists looking for Melanie, a sister and friend who went missing one year prior and is revealed to be turned into a Wendigo. In this regard, the film shares similar story with the game, in which eight protagonists reunite to honor the memory of Hannah and Beth Washington, twin sisters and friends who also went missing one year prior, with one of them (Hannah) is revealed to be turned into a Wendigo.
  • Also, both the film and the game feature one of the protagonists as the sibling of a missing person (Clover as Melanie's younger sister and Josh as Hannah and Beth's older brother), who as a result suffer from psychological trauma.
• Gary Dauberman has said he considers the Until Dawn movie "Part 2" of the Until Dawn franchise, with the game acting as "Part 1," set in the same universe, and that Hill would ideally bridge all projects together, including a potential "Part 3" in the Until Dawn universe.
  • Sandberg, however, later contradicted Dauberman on this, saying they are unsure if the film is a prequel or sequel to the game: "It’s an interesting question. I mean, it’s an Easter egg, sort of… it’s a little tricky because while we were shooting it, we actually sort of said it takes place after the game, but what we’re doing at the end implies that it could take place before the game. To be honest, it’s not something I’ve sort of said completely… I think it can be left open, at least until they want to do a sequel, and we have to figure out exactly what that is. To me, whenever I make a movie, I just focus on making the best that movie. I would say the same with Shazam, where we had a post-credits scene with Mr. Mind and set up a thing, and then the sequel didn’t really do anything with that. But we could have… you have that option."
    • However, since the movie takes place on October 24, 2024, while the game takes place on February 2, 2015, the movie chronologically must happen after the game, as they are set in the same continuity.
    • Sandberg clarified in a later interview that the movie is in fact a sequel to the game, not a prequel: "The film was written that these events take place after the events of the game. We wanted to have it all tied together as much as possible."
• Gary Dauberman has stated that some characters (Max, Megan, and Abe) were given no last names in order to avoid clearance issues.
• Until Dawn draws upon a range of horror genres, including slasher, supernatural, paranormal, body horror, found footage, and undead.
• David F. Sandberg said that the movie almost got a subtitle to differentiate it from the game, but the marketing team got worried that anyone who is not familiar with the game would think that this film is a sequel for some other project.
• David said in an interview for Scream Horror Magazine that the parasite worm and the tall, masked man in a black cloak are from a 'found footage' section. He also stated that they had to improvise, because not all actors were on set for some scenes and they had a limit of budget and time.
  • He stated that he is the one playing the tall masked man, and that they used a small version of the hallway set to make him look huge.
• David F. Sandberg's face is shown a couple of times on one of the missing posters, and Megan is possessed by his character briefly as she repeats the words of those who have failed to make it until dawn.
  • Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler, the writers of the film, are also briefly shown on missing posters.
• David F. Sandberg said that the fourth night of the movie was supposed to be the night of the werewolves, but for unknown reasons the scene was deleted and changed to the night of the Wendigos. However, they still appear in Abe's video gallery, and there is a drawing of one in the witch’s home. In the final cut, the fourth night still begins by focusing on the full moon, and it is possible to hear some wolf growls as remnants of the deleted version.
• Nina is bisexual and has had relationships with men and women, making her the first known LGBTQ+ character in the Until Dawn universe.
• It's unsure if The Dolls Heads were the main threats of their night, but they are the only traces of this night seen in Abe's gallery.
• The Siren is probably a reference to "The Forbidden Siren" another Sony IP with monsters that have similar bloody eyes as Nina.
• The outfit of the Slasher mirrors that of the Psycho, serving as a reference to the game's persona of Josh.
• The manifestation of Clover's fears as monsters in the film likely references Dr. Hill’s fear-assessment sessions in the game, where the player’s chosen fears (such as zombies) are later reflected in the gameplay through tailored apparitions.
• Most video thumbnails in Abe's phone gallery are pictures from the set or screenshots from deleted scenes and the rest of them being the ones shown on screen.
• In the deleted alternative ending, it was revealed that the Slumbering Gods (The Giants) cursed Glore Valley as punishment for being awakened by the mining that caused the city to collapse, creating the time loop and turning the people into creatures of the night.
  • In the same scene, Dr. Hill reveals that he always comes back, hinting that he may be an omniscient creature unaffected by time loops.
• The deleted scene "Earthquake & Werewolf" shows that originally, in night four, VHS tapes revealed footage of when the city started to collapse, and screams of people seemingly dying in the mines can be heard. In the final cut, it was replaced by a VHS tape of Hill explaining what a Wendigo is.
  • In the same scene, it is possible to hear some of the inhabitants of Glore Valley saying the same things that Megan says when she is possessed, suggesting that these souls originally belonged to the dead town residents rather than the missing visitors.

• David Sandberg has stated that Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler, while writing the script, were in constant contact with people who worked on the game. However, it has not been stated which members of the game's crew were spoken to, and it does not appear as though the game's crew were involved in the filming of the movie.
  • Sandberg also stated he never had contact with Larry Fessenden, one of the game's scriptwriters and the actor of the Stranger.
  • In an interview between the The Hollywood Reporter and the game's screenwriters, it is stated that Larry Fessenden and Graham Reznick "were not approached to consult on the new movie."
  • The film crew did not reach out to the game's director: when asked about the Until Dawn film ahead of its release in an interview with GQ, game director Will Byles said he was not contacted by the film crew: “I felt a little hurt they didn’t talk to me, and maybe it’s a little odd they didn’t. But having said that, David Sandberg is one of my favourite horror directors, so I think it’s in good hands.”
  • Galadriel Stineman, the actress who portrayed Ashley in the game, stated that she read the script ahead of the film's release, indicating she did have some contact with Sony, the film crew, or the film writers.

Promotional Material

Posters

Main Cover

Poster 2

Poster 3

Poster 4

Poster 5

Poster 6

French poster

DVD cover

Stills

The group of friends.

The hourglass signifying the restart of a night.

Clover and a Wendigo.

Nina and Abe encounter a giant.

Videos

UNTIL DAWN – Film First Look

UNTIL DAWN – Official Trailer (HD)

UNTIL DAWN – New Movie Trailer (HD)