Resident Evil & Primetime: Chaos, Ambition, and Uneasy Entertainment

This week on After the Frame, we start with Resident Evil, Zach Cregger’s latest swing at horror. Austin Abrams gives the movie a strong center and the pacing keeps things moving, but the goofy tone and lack of emotional weight leave us wondering whether a merely good movie can still feel disappointing when it comes from the filmmaker behind Barbarian and Weapons.

Then we move into Primetime, a much more complicated conversation. Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, and Skyler Gisondo deliver standout performances in a movie that digs into fame, ambition, media, and what happens when a sense of moral purpose starts getting tangled up with entertainment.

The big question is whether Primetime’s uncomfortable perspective makes it more fascinating or pushes its argument too far. We get into the performances, the technical craft, the moral unease, and why this is the kind of movie that can leave different viewers walking out with completely different reactions.

One movie is a fast, goofy genre ride. The other is the kind of film you may still be arguing about days later.