Warning: Minor SPOILERS lie ahead for Until Dawn!
The Wendigos from the Until Dawn game and Peter Stormare's Dr. Hill, returning in a villainous twist.
Now, as the movie heads into theaters, Sandberg spoke with Bloody Disgusting to break down Until Dawn's game connections. When asked about the game's Butterfly Effect element and how the movie played into it, the director revealed there was once a version of the movie that had a more explicit translation of this in the film, though later elected to hide "little runes throughout the film" to allude to this theme. See what Sandberg detailed below:
There was definitely a version of that with the night starting over each time, leading to different choices which tie in. There’s even some hidden little runes throughout the film — I had found this rune that means “Dawn” or “New Day” or something — and it kind of looks like the wings of a butterfly — so we put that in here and there, like in the witch’s house there’s that shape made out of bones, and on the pickax there’s the little rune. So we definitely tried to tie that in as much as we could.
What The Runes Mean For The Until Dawn Movie
A Twist On A Core Game Mechanic
The Butterfly Effect is one of the core concepts that drives the Until Dawn game forward, as players find themselves presented with certain choices that have a ripple effect. Ranging from items being set up to be used in later chase sequences, or directly influencing certain characters' fates, players had the chance to also review the different moments through the game's journal and see where the paths diverged on replays. This element was one of the core things fans of the game were worried about how it would be translated for the film, particularly through its different story.
8 Ways Until Dawn Is Different From The Video Games
Many significant changes were made to Until Dawn's story for the 2025 film, which made this video game adaptation feel like a very different tale.
While not a direct translation of the Butterfly Effect theme, Sandberg's decision to utilize the runes could actually be seen as a twist on another core game mechanic from Until Dawn, that being the Totems scattered throughout the game. Divided into five types of Death, Danger, Loss, Guidance and Fortune, the Totems offer players a precognitive glimpse at the outcome of certain Butterfly Effect decisions, thus offering a chance to avoid certain character deaths and set themselves up for success later on.
The places Sandberg chose to include the runes as an Until Dawn Easter egg also further showcase how they work as the movie's version of Totems. For example, the pickax is both a savior and killer for the main cast, with Michael Cimino's Max using it to pin a Wendigo down during a chase scene, while nearly all of them are stabbed and killed with it by one of the masked killers at various points. Similarly, the witch's house begins laying the foundation for the cast to learn the rules of the time loop, as well as how to escape it.
Our Take On Until Dawn's Rune Easter Egg
One Of Many Interesting Nods To The Game
As different as the movie is from the source material, Until Dawn does feature some very intriguing Easter eggs for fans of the game, including the patient file for Rami Malek's Josh and the apparent return of the game's location, but the runes are arguably one of the most interesting. Serving as a mix of a creative touch from Sandberg and a twist on the game's Butterfly Effect and Totem mechanics, it's one of the best examples of how the movie did its own thing while staying true to the game.
Source: Bloody Disgusting
Until Dawn
- Release Date
- April 25, 2025
- Runtime
- 103 Minutes
- Director
- David F. Sandberg
Cast
Ella RubinClover
Michael CiminoMax
WHERE TO WATCH
A group of friends ventures into a remote valley to uncover the truth behind a mysterious disappearance. They find themselves trapped in a nightmarish time loop, facing a series of ever-changing and increasingly terrifying threats.
- Writers
- Gary Dauberman, Blair Butler
- Producers
- Carter Swan, Roy Lee, Gary Dauberman, Charles Miller, Lotta Losten, Asad Qizilbash
- Main Genre
- Horror
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