I'm Alex Kirby and welcome to another outing of Press X. This time around we are moving on to the zombie (sort of) adventure of The Last of Us. Here, we don’t just ask if the latest video game adaptation is faithful — we ask if it levels up, glitches out, or just needs a hard reset.
Developed by Naughty Dog Studios (Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted), The Last of Us quickly became one of PlayStation’s biggest modern favorites among gamers. The engaging storytelling hit players with emotional sucker punches they weren’t ready for. Its timing was perfect, arriving after countless FPS games that leaned on online play and offered little in the way of compelling single-player campaigns. While those games didn’t disappear, The Last of Us made players truly care about its characters and the impossible choices they faced. It also didn’t hurt that it came at a time when zombie-themed, post-apocalyptic stories were red hot in pop culture thanks to The Walking Dead. With all this buzz, a film adaptation seemed inevitable. And we got one in LRF back in Season 1, long before HBO got their grubby hands on it.
The Last of Us is a narrative-driven action-adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic United States, overrun by a fungal infection that has transformed much of the population into aggressive, zombie-like creatures known as Clickers. Players follow Joel, a hardened survivor haunted by his past, who is tasked with escorting Ellie, a teenage girl who may hold the key to a cure, across a dangerous and crumbling country. Along the way, they encounter Clickers, hostile humans, desperate survivors, and moments of unexpected humanity, forging a bond that drives the emotional heart of the story. Combining tense stealth, resource management, and combat, the game blends cinematic storytelling with immersive gameplay, creating a gripping journey about survival, sacrifice, and the complexity of human relationships.
The story was compelling enough to inspire a cinematic adaptation on LRF, which hewed closely to the game’s storyline. In the film, the outbreak of a mutant Cordyceps fungus devastates the U.S., turning much of the population into cannibalistic infected, including the infamous Clickers. Joel (Anson Mount), a hardened survivor haunted by loss, is tasked with escorting Ellie (Mackenzie Foy), a teenage girl whose immunity may hold the key to a cure, across the dangerous, post-apocalyptic landscape. Along the way, they face hostile humans, ruthless bandits, and relentless infected, forging a deep bond that drives the narrative.
The LRF adaptation earned praise for its performances. Mount’s intensity as Joel and Foy’s heartfelt portrayal of Ellie stood out, but critics noted that the film leaned too heavily on the game’s structure, making it feel rushed. George Ryan of the Philadelphia Inquirer suggested that the story might have worked better as a series, where the emotional beats could be drawn out, while Stephen Ridley of the Boston Globe praised the film’s rich depiction of a ruined America. Even so, Clark Davis of JoBlo.com called it “the best video game film yet,” showing that a faithful adaptation, flaws and all, could still resonate with audiences.
My own take? I don’t think it’s a bad thing when a film sticks closely to the source material. This one hit all the right emotional beats and stayed true to the spirit of the game. Sure, it could’ve used more breathing room expanded into a series, which of course HBO would later deliver, but as a film, it was a rock-solid effort. The game was already cinematic by nature, and the movie captured that same energy. I felt the same emotional punch watching it as I did playing it.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt, whose Rise of the Planet of the Apes influence is clear in the tense “humans vs. overwhelming horde” set pieces, the film had blockbuster weight behind it. Scenes of Joel and Ellie cornered by Clickers played with the same nerve-shredding dread as James Franco surrounded by revolting apes. Screenwriter Dwight Gallo was already staking his claim as one of LRF’s most prolific voices, and this script helped solidify that reputation. Backed by a massive $122 million budget, the film bet big on crossover appeal to gamers and non-gamers alike. That gamble paid off with a $259 million global haul and a $58 million profit. It didn’t reach the legacy-driven highs of Halo’s $528 million the same season, but The Last of Us proved you didn’t need decades of history to turn a game adaptation into a box office hit.
As of this writing, there’s been little discussion of adapting The Last of Us Part II for the big screen. But if this remains the only LRF installment, I’m more than satisfied with what we got. It delivered the story with heart, spectacle, and respect for its source, no easy feat in the world of video game movies.
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