The "All Her Fault" Horror Phenomenon

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]So… Dady’s back. “Yeah, I’m here” I've been a huge Ressy fan ever since I was a  kid watching my sister play through the games, and this year we all got to watch our favorite  streamers play through Resident Evil 9.

[00:00:15]You play as two different characters in the  game–both are Federal agents–and I’m gonna let you see if you can spot the difference here. “I think I want a second opinion.”

[00:00:28]“I… so um.” [grunting] [panicked breathing] “I couldn’t save them But I can stop bastards like you.” “This is all my fault.”

[00:00:47]Listen, Resident Evil is known for  several kickass feminine characters, who they refuse to bring back. “Like as much as I love daddy Redfield and Babygirl Leon, they’re literally the  only characters ever allowed to be invited back in the series and play substantial  roles. Where’s Jill? Where's Claire?

[00:01:03]Where’s Ada? Where’s Rebecca?” Instead of any of those ladies, we get Grace, a character so neurotic, she  has trouble stringing sentences together– “Is… Is anyone there?” And gets tossed around like a ragdoll.

[00:01:22][grunting, screaming] “Woo woo woo woo wooooo!”

[00:01:29]And honestly, I think that’s fine, to  have a protagonist like Grace who’s an emotional wreck. It can be interesting, it  can be well done, it can be relatable.

[00:01:37][screaming] I don’t know how she became an FBI agent. [screaming] “W- what do I do??” [crying] “I mean, says Nervous System. Should  just be a picture of Grace.”

[00:01:49]But what really struck me about Grace was how  she repeatedly blamed herself for literally everything that happens in the plot. “This is all my fault. Again!”

[00:02:01]Girl. This is Resident Evil. The bad guys are  like Batman villains. No offense but what could you have possibly done to stop this? Grace’s  self-accusations make so little sense, even the bad guy doesn’t know what she’s talking about! “So it really was all my fault.”

[00:02:19]“What was?” It’s actually your boss’s fault for sending you in alone. “Perhaps it’s time for you to… face the past? Confront that fear, head on.” This was such an obviously bad idea I thought maybe he was working for the bad guys. “So the FBI wasn’t in on it? I found it so weird that they let her go there  without a partner or anything.

[00:02:40]But of course, throughout the game, our  hero Leon is his usual flawless, quippy, “Aren’t we fancy” Calm, collected self.

[00:02:49]“Hello gorgeous” The only time he really disappointed me is when Grace once again says that everything is “all her  fault,” and he doesn’t console her. He doesn’t go, “No it’s not, this is all Spencer’s fault,” or  “No, it’s all umbrella’s fault.” He just says: “Look, I get it. Trust me, I get it. But  we’re still alive. We have to keep going.”

[00:03:12]Grace’s… “personality” reminded me of  this micro-trend in horror movies that all came out around the year 2022, where a  lot of the main characters were a lot like Grace. A female protagonist who blames  themselves for everything that happens in the film. It’s the opposite of a “GOOD FOR  HER” movie. It’s an “ALL HER FAULT” film.

[00:03:36]Movies like SMILE, SMILE 2, THE HELLRAISER REBOOT  and TALK TO ME all kind of have this general vibe where the main character is a woman who annoys  everyone around her. They also believe, like Grace, that “everything is all their fault.” But the zombies aren’t Grace’s fault… so are these women right? Is it really “all their fault?” So, I want to talk about this. Because I think it’s interesting, and because as someone  who is always liked in every room in every setting, I just simply can’t relate. But also because when Leon let me down, I wanted to tell Grace it’s NOT her fault. It’s actually the fault of a completely DIFFERENT WOMAN’s who is made of mold and is simply trying  to resurrect her dead daughter by kidnapping another baby and– [boom] Before we get into this, I just want to say, I’m  the only person I’m aware of who’s calling this, like, a micro-trend. It’s just something I  noticed. It’s not like all of these filmmakers got together and decided they were going to make  this one type of movie. Also I really like all these movies I’m going to be talking about  today. The Philippou brothers in particular are extraordinarily talented filmmakers who really  know how to direct an impactful horror movie. The knife scene in Bring her Back? You know the one.  So just because I’m talking about these movies and I’m a woman doesn’t mean I hate them. We can think critically about the things that we like. Or, I mean, I can.

[00:05:04]If you can’t, that’s your ish to figure out. And I haven’t seen the All Her Fault TV show. I know nothing about it. I’ve heard that  it covers similar themes. And that, my friends, is my own fault. So, my first scientific question is: why is it “her” fault? Because when I think back  on male characters in horror, they don’t often blame themselves. For anything. Immediately I thought of THE FLY, classic slimy but charming guy who is secretly  terrible and is hoisted by his own ambitions.

[00:05:34]SINISTER, everything is Ethan Hawke’s fault,  puts his family at risk just for his career.

[00:05:39]UNCUT GEMS, the Safdie Brothers also work in  this space, the inevitable consequences of their character’s actions are barreling towards us But it’s interesting to me that male characters so rarely blame themselves for  what happens in a story.

[00:05:53]“It’s not my fault!” “No light speed?”

[00:05:55]“It’s not my fault.” They are usually unable or unwilling to self-reflect, I mean that’s usually  how they’ve gotten this far in the first place.

[00:06:03]“What the F–K!” It’s often a story of man’s hubris, or sheer audacity, in the  face of what is clearly, all his fault.

[00:06:12]“This is my f–kin way. This  is how I win. Alright?”

[00:06:16]There are even some movies about how men will  construct Rube Goldberg justifications for why everything they actually did is really some other  guy’s fault. The “I’m a different guy” defense.

[00:06:26]Conversely, women characters seem  to end up viscerally aware of, or devastated by the fact that quote unquote,  “everything is their fault.” That all the harm and carnage can be traced back to them. I’m speaking in general terms, but to me, who accepts blame and who denies the consequences  of their actions often fall along gendered lines.

[00:06:50]Not because of any actual inherent difference  between genders, but because of the world we live in. A world that was built on women being  the scapegoat for everything from witchcraft to all the wars that ever existed. I am not kidding. One of the most famous Victorian thinkers, John Ruskin lectured: “There is not a war in the world, no, nor an injustice, but you women are answerable  for it; not in that you have provoked, but in that you have not hindered. Men,  by their nature, are prone to fight; they will fight for any cause, or for none. It  is for you to choose their cause for them, and to forbid them when there is no cause. There is no  suffering, no injustice, no misery, in the earth, but the guilt of it lies lastly with you.” The Victorian version of “What were you wearing when we invaded?” “The moment you give women choice, they choose to improve their lives by  marrying someone better. And so over time, what happens is, your society collapses.” I mean, hell, let’s go back even further. In the story of Adam and Eve from the bible, Eve of  course is tricked by the snake to eat the apple, and then gives the apple to Adam. Adam blames  Eve for the fall, and this is why Christians believe that humans are inherently sinful. I think we all casually recall this story of Eve tempting, or even seducing Adam, with an  apple… which is funny, because that completely erases the real villain. The snake! The guy  who put this all into motion in the first place! What was Eve supposed to do? Literally  DEFEAT the Devil in the Garden of Eden? Also she has to give the apple to Adam, otherwise  that would imply women have been gifted with secret knowledge that Adam does not possess! I think it’s very interesting that the Quran's version of Adam and Eve emphasizes that they are  both at fault, and are ultimately forgiven by God, implying that humans are born pure  for accepting fault and repenting.

[00:08:54]The idea of original sin in Christianity was  solidified by Augustine of Hippo writing around 400 A.D. who interprets that Eve was  especially susceptible to the serpent, because women are weaker, less moral,  and more corruptible, than men.

[00:09:10]2026 is giving you a BIG  eyeroll, my Hippo dude.

[00:09:14]So with that guy’s blessing, the story of  humanity’s “fall” became about how women are bad, the snake is neutral to forgettable, and Adam is  righteously justified in being mad at her for all of the problems in the world. Not because that’s  the truth or something that actually happened, but because it was written and co-opted by a  Patriarchal structure, who needed to run defense for that snake, for some f–king reason. And just like original sin is the idea that humans are marked with a sin that we supposedly  committed even before we were born, women are marked with an idea that  there is inherently something wrong with them before they are even born. “Oh I know just how you feel, pumpkin, I’ve had my share of disappointments too.” “It’s a girl!”

[00:09:59]“Can you– Can you check again?” Systems like The Patriarchy create binaries, separating people into men and sluts in  order to create a hierarchy to maintain and control the power structure that benefits  them. If women are meant to be in the home, then they can’t beat you for a promotion. So the fact that men’s “It’s All my Fault” stories and women’s “It’s All my Fault” stories  look different, totally makes sense to me, on a societal level. And bringing it back to Resident  Evil Requiem, the dual protagonists–unhinged Grace and unflappable Leon–are cartoonishly  extreme examples of that binary.

[00:10:38]“No! Nooo!” “At least… I could save you.”

[00:10:41]FD Signifier put it better than I could,  in his playthrough of the game.

[00:10:45]“Ugh. They got me on my masculine real quick,  and said, ‘but here’s Leon, don’t you feel better now?’ And I was like, ‘you know what? You  right, I do feel better now, this is great.’

[00:10:52]They put me in my feminine by  making me feel disempowered, and now I do feel better now that he’s here.” Now, you may think I’m saying there are no good “All her fault” stories. Au contraire! Let’s take a look at what I believe to be an incredible All Her Fault canon horror  film, one of the best to ever do it– DRAG ME TO HELL is a Sam Raimi classic. In it, Christine works at a bank as a loan officer. In the beginning we  see her male coworkers not take her seriously because she’s a woman. “I was wondering if you’d made any decision regarding the assistant manager’s position.” “Right now it’s between Stu and yourself.”

[00:11:31]“Stu Ribbon the new guy?” “Well I know he’s new, but he’s also quite aggressive. And we like that.” We overhear her boyfriend’s mom critique her because Christine’s family is lower class. “I’m sure she’s a very sweet girl. But you know your father and I had  certain expectations for you.”

[00:11:47]We are placed immediately up against the  ropes, in a male dominated workplace that values ruthlessness, in a class structure  that judges her for growing up on a farm.