Not every concept deserves exploration or constant expansion. Some ideas, when first introduced, spark such fascination that filmmakers can’t help but pile onto the trend like vultures on roadkill. This band wagoning quickly grinds promising concepts into dust, leaving creative wastelands where fresh ideas once flourished. Yet here we are in 2025, with horror fans being force-fed yet another serving of time-loop purgatory in the aptly named “Until Dawn,” a film that should have remained in development hell.
Reliving the Same Moment: A Cliché That Continues to Recycle
Stories centered on reliving the same moment repeatedly aren’t exactly groundbreaking. Think Groundhog Day, Happy Death Day, The Edge of Tomorrow, Looper, and Fifty First Dates, to name a few. Each film offers its unique twist on why someone gets trapped in this time loop, but the core message remains consistent: the cycle won’t break until the protagonist learns a crucial lesson. That’s the premise of Until Dawn, a horror film where the protagonists must escape a seemingly endless night of terror to survive.
Once Crossed, No Return
“Until Dawn” follows a group of acquaintances united by a single mission. Though they’ve all agreed to participate, their motivations vary greatly. At the center is Clover, driven by the desperate search for her mysteriously vanished sister. What starts as a misguided adventure quickly becomes a nightmare with no apparent escape—a reminder that some thresholds, once crossed, offer no return.
The Pitfall of Overcomplication
The film opens with a scene meant to be gripping—a terrified young woman crawling and clawing through darkness pursued by a shadowy figure—but like everything else, it’s a promise unfulfilled. The one area where the movie delivers is its commitment to gratuitous violence. Characters meet their ends in increasingly creative displays of carnage, as if the filmmakers were checking boxes on a “101 Ways to Die Horribly” checklist. By twenty minutes in, I was already wondering if any actual story remained. Spoiler alert: technically yes, but it’s buried under an avalanche of nonsensical plot threads. The film throws so many antagonistic forces at viewers that tracking what the protagonists are fighting against becomes impossible. While conflict drives storytelling, this movie shows why sometimes less is truly more. The labyrinthine complications ultimately sabotage any investment in the characters’ fates. By the halfway mark, I couldn’t muster any concern about whether anyone survived—perhaps the most damning criticism for a horror film.
A Nightmarish Cycle Without Escape: The Flaws Behind “Until Dawn”
I found this film difficult to finish, though I’m determined to revisit it to better understand its tangled plot. The story centers around desperate characters who must solve a puzzle to break a cycle before dawn or face becoming creatures of unimaginable nightmares. That dawn never arrives as the group perishes repeatedly. The clues are confusing, and it’s revealed they’ve been trapped for at least 13 days without success, causing the premise to collapse entirely.
Gore Galore, Narrative Zero
I admit I may not have lasted until the credits. Perhaps crucial revelations awaited in those final moments, or subtle hints eluded my increasingly disinterested gaze. But when chaos reigns supreme, what’s the point? “Until Dawn” buckles under its own weight, breaking the fundamental contract between filmmakers and audience. While horror aficionados might award points for the film’s impressive blood budget—there’s certainly no shortage of creative dismemberment—technical proficiency in gore effects can’t salvage a fundamentally broken narrative. Those seeking visceral thrills may find satisfaction here, but viewers hoping for coherence alongside their carnage
Uncut Diamonds 