'Worldbreaker' review: Dystopian thriller recombines overused ideas
The New York Times reviewed Worldbreaker on Jan. 29, 2026. Directed by Brad Anderson and running 1 hour 35 minutes, the film is billed as an action, drama and science-fiction thriller starring Luke Evans, Billie Boullet and Milla Jovovich, the review says. According to the review, the film is set on a planet under attack by spindly creatures called “breakers.” A bite or a scratch from these breakers can transform humans into “hybrids,” which the review describes as zombie‑like and which must be killed by a thorough mashing of the brain.
Visually, the reviewer says, the breakers appear to share a genetic link by sight with the creatures from A Quiet Place. The review says the screenplay, by Joshua Rollins, raises questions—such as why wounded men are more likely than wounded women to become hybrids—but then drops them.
A mythic back story involving a Paul Bunyan‑type figure called Kodiak is also introduced and left unresolved. Overall, the reviewer writes, the film “shamelessly recombin[es] overused ideas” and does not build much of a world to break. The review notes one bold choice: sidelining Milla Jovovich, described as the cast’s most charismatic member.
Jovovich’s character, credited as “Mom,” goes off to fight the breakers while Dad (Luke Evans) and their teenage daughter Willa (Billie Boullet) flee to a remote island on a motorboat named Provider. The reviewer says Willa’s misplaced trust in strangers forces her father to train her to fight.
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