This is my world: spatial representation in the Resident Evil films

Abstract

This article reads the Resident Evil film franchise (2002, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012) through theoretical work on the spatial strategies of neocapitalism, arguing that the films visualize abstract theories of spatial production and control. Throughout the franchise, virtualized and falsified experiences of space are shown to effectively manage human subjects, and the repeated use of simulations and clones highlights the reproducibility of both space and its occupants. The work of Henri Lefebvre is here employed to examine these representations, in particular his writing on the ‘abstract space’ upon which capitalist society relies. In such space, Euclidean emptiness and uniformity replace embodied geographies and histories, and human action is carefully proscribed and managed. The article uses textual and narrative analysis to show how the Resident Evil films explore such neocapitalist spatial strategies and argues that the franchise repeatedly and forcefully reminds viewers that seemingly neutral or taken-for-granted spaces might in truth be controlled and functionalized spatial productions.