★★★★
An inventive ride through the multiverse that eschews the cosmic horror of Coherence or the superhero bombast of the Marvel empire, Kevin and Matthew McManus’s Redux Redux instead delivers a stripped-back, emotionally-charged tale of loss and familial connection. Michaela McManus grips as Irene, a grieving mother who tears across timelines in search of justice – and perhaps absolution – for the daughter she’s lost, taking brutal vengeance in every timeline. The lo-fi sci-fi aesthetics and looping structure echo Timecrimes or Triangle, but it’s the core relationship between Irene and her alt-universe daughter stand-in Mia that keeps things grounded. Will Irene learn to embrace the relationship she has, instead of obsessing over the one she lost?
Directors Kevin and Matthew McManus have a knack for conjuring tactile, lived-in genre spaces, and while the repetition inherent in the plot risks monotony, subtle shifts in emotion and tone help it land. There’s just enough worldbuilding to keep genre fans happy, and one moment even slips in that unmistakable John Carpenter “dun-dun,” which earns instant goodwill. Not every punch connects, and the fundamentals of the plot are the subject of a dozen Rick and Morty episodes, but it’s a heartfelt, tense spin on a tricksy genre that more than earns its emotional payoff.
Redux Redux played at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 22
Whitlock&Pope 