S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of the Zone

At best, this feels like some sort of college project or assignment. Everything in the film is as flimsy as a soaked sheet of newspaper. The lack of budget is the first and most obvious flaw-it shows in every single frame. The action scenes creak like rusty gears. The dialogue sounds like it was written by an AI without a premium subscription.

I'm not even a fan of the video game of the same name, and still, I can't understand how the copyright holder allowed such an abomination to be made-let alone carry the name STALKER (insert dots where necessary).

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone.

As a long time fan of the game series, directors and actors both did source material justice while providing a new spin on, what would be just one of the stories happening within the Zone, and provided they are a small studio with limited funds and resources, they did amazing job portraying life and dangers in the Zone! I honestly wish they would get proper funding and access to resources to do a full fledged 2-3 hour movie because 1 hour is just not enough for the huge potential that Stalker world offers, and that is also my only complaint, that the runtime is too short for the action - horror - adventure type, but also I understand why that is.

Production quality is top notch for a guerilla studio, however, the authenticity to the source material leaves much to be desired. Especially when it comes to costume design for the main cast, Their gear is not conducive to what mercenaries wore in the games and in the time frame of the series, the general aesthetic seemed more to in line with escape from Tarkov than any of the main stalker games. Only Brain and Crow was remotely close to the designs of their video game counterparts (Ecologist and Loner). Not to mention the lack of mutants, and only ONE appearance from an actual anomaly that appeared in the video game. Disappointing watch for veteran viewers, very pleasing for entrance level/outsider viewing.

I have been waiting for the release of this film since it's announcement and I have not been left disappointed

From the very start of this film, it grips you with a well choreographed action scene steeped in an knowledgeable amount of realism you don't see everywhere and the rest of the action in the film follow suit.

The story is easy to follow and straight forward but is by no means lacking, every exposition through dialogue or through the scene feels natural and each scene leaves onto the next leaving the former with distinction.

The cast are brilliant although the dialogue between them is mostly kept brief it's perfect for the setting and keeps everything left to the point. The scenes where Russian is spoken it never feels uncanny and it feels like it really made a big difference. The sets and locations feel like you are in the Exclusion Zone and help you place yourself in the setting.

The costumes and gear are a bit clean especially for the Monolith agents but the gear and weapons feel appropriate and the vests and rigging look full and like they are actually being used properly.

The whole film had me gripped tightly for the approximate hour it took to watch and I will watch it again. Massive props to all the crew for all the hard work they put in. It has paid off, I want to see these folks succeed and move on to bigger things.

As luck would have it, then I stumbled upon this 2024 movie titled "S. T. A. L. K. E. R.: Shadow of the Zone" by random luck here in 2025. And of course I opted to check out the movie. While I have never played the games, I am familiar with the them. But without having delved into the games and the storylines, provided there are any, then I don't know how true this 2024 movie stayed to the source material.

The story that writers Evan Muir and Isaiah Nichols put together was a bit weak and sort of didn't really entertain me in a great way. Sure, it was a watchable enough movie, but it was lacking entertainment value, as the script was vague and superficial. You don't get to know the characters, and they essentially could be replaced by cardboard cut-outs.

I was not familiar with a single actor on the cast list. And that is actually something that works in favor of the movie, as I enjoy watching new and unfamiliar talents on the screen when I watch a movie. The acting performances in the movie were fair, despite the fact that the actors had so little to work with.

Now if only the movie had been shot with proper camera equipment and not someone's dad's old home video VCR recorder, then it would actually have looked and felt like a proper movie. But since it seemed to be filmed with some old VCR recorder, it merely looked like a highschool film class project.

There is a good amount of action in the movie in the form of gunfights, and sure it was helping to make it a bit more bearable to sit through 71 minutes of watching the movie.

Something that did work out nicely in favor of the movie was the wardrobe and props department, as they certainly did their fair share to make it look believable. Just a shame that the movie was filmed in such a lousy manner.

Even after having seen this 2024 movie, I can't claim that I feel particularly compelled to go check out the game series. And this is definitely not a movie that I would recommend you to waste your time, money or effort on.

My rating of directors Stephen Hancock and Evan Muir's 2024 movie "S. T. A. L. K. E. R.: Shadow of the Zone" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.