I say it all the time, “It’s not what the movie is about, it’s how it goes about it.” Roger Ebert’s words continue to be a barometer for successful filmmaking and film criticism. Nothing is more fitting of this quote than “Redux Redux.” This film has inventive and fresh take on both multiverse storytelling and revenge thrillers. When we say we want original cinema, THIS is the kind of film we’re talking about. Emotionally intelligent, violent, and armed with an excellent premise, “Redux Redux” is the kind of film that is full of surprises and an engaging grit that keeps you locked in until the final frame.
“Redux Redux” stays true to its core of character, smartly avoiding the pandering pitfalls of constant exposition that often traps sci-fi films left stuck overexplaining its own made up mumbo jumbo. If you’re looking for a film that uses big giant words to explain multiverse travel, you’re in the wrong theater.
More Emotion, Less Sci-Fi Jargon
No, “Redux Redux” isn’t interested in bogging itself down with the ins and outs of physics and theory. It’s too taut and grounded for all of that, and instead never loses sight of what it truly wants to be about or say, zeroing its focus on the consequences of the pursuit of revenge, the addiction of obsession, and the challenges of processing extreme grief. It’s world building is grounded, functioning more like tightly controlled chaos than an uncontrollable spiral. It feels sprawling and contained simultaneously and never panders or dumbs down its narrative for audiences.
“Redux Redux” trusts you enough to look past the solid sci-fi premise and dig a little deeper. Rewarding you for your patience and attentiveness as the events unfold. That premise is simple: Irene’s (Michaela McManus) teenage daughter is murdered by a serial killer named Neville (Jeremy Holm). Armed with a multiverse traveling machine and a gun, she decides to travel to as many universes as she can, hunting and eliminating the killer. She is fueled by this repetitious murder spree of Neville, but everything is upended when she saves his latest victim. A runaway named Mia (Stella Marcus) who wants to follow in Irene’s revenge footsteps and join her brutal mission.
Written and directed by Kevin and Matthew McManus, “Redux Redux” is expertly crafted minimalist cinema. It utilizes every aspect of micro-budget filmmaking to maximum effect. They seem to understand that repetition can be engaging if you give an audience people to care about, and Michaela McManus‘ Irene is an instantly likeable protagonist.
Grief Drives the Story
Michaela gives a great lead performance, embodying a woman clearly suffering but unable to really wrestle with or accept the loss of her daughter. Making this emotional struggle the crux of “Redux Redux” allows the film to take a new shape, no longer resting on the sci-fi tropes of its premise and start exploring what that would do to someone and what the world around them would look like. There’s an incredible scene with some smugglers who use their multiverse access to essentially turn it into human trafficking. It provides a glimpse into an underground, shady economy that would surely exist if this were real but is almost never examined in this way. It’s these kinds of side quests in “Redux Redux” that keep you guessing but also expand upon new layers of a tired foundation.
Violence With Purpose (Content Warning)
“Redux Redux” is VIOLENT, and a lot of that is violence against women. That’s not an indictment as we’re meant to come away with a “good for her” feeling throughout, but it should serve as a warning for those who are squeamish around that kind of brutality. It’s never over the top, but it is certainly bloody and gritty and sometimes downright terrifying. Irene’s confrontations with Neville aren’t always the same, with each kill requiring some ingenuity as it is never exactly the same in each universe. It never tries to add any kind of humanity or misunderstood aspects to its villain, though. Neville is a brutal killer of women, and purposefully has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. This allows her revenge pursuits to feel justified, but deliver more empathy for her and her loss as well as deeply layer her emotional state despite a straightforward mission.
“Redux Redux” is how you pair a great premise with strong execution, a match that seems so obvious but rarely seem to line up these days. There will be moments from this that will stick with me for quite some time, and there is just nothing like this out there right now. Even with a premise that sounds familiar, “Redux Redux” feels almost completely singular, and it left me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It’s haunting, unnerving, unrelenting and never wastes a single frame.
Final Verdict: Seek This One Out
Good, non-franchise, non-IP films exist. You just have to be willing to seek them out and find them. “Redux Redux” is that discovery, the kind of film you keep asking for but miss when they come around. Don’t miss this one, folks. It’s as good as independent cinema gets, and a truly incendiary movie that finds the strengths of the genre and finally gives us a multiverse story worth watching.
Case in point: “Redux Redux” absolutely rocks and you should definitely seek it out. The MCU could NEVER.
Rating: 4 out 5 Stars
“Redux Redux” is in select theaters February 20th. You can watch the trailer below.
