Revenge is a family affair in Kevin and Matthew McManus' genre-bending action-sci-fi Redux Redux, which had its Canadian premiere at this year's Fantasia International Film Festival, and will later play Frightfest 2025. The brothers and directing duo first joined forces in 2012 on Funeral Kings before creating 2021's The Block Island Sound. Redux Redux marks their third feature collaboration and also their third time working with sister Michaela McManus, this time in a leading role.
Irene Kelly (Michaela) is desperate to avenge her daughter Anna's murder by any means necessary, going as far as journeying through parallel dimensions over and over again to track down and annihilate her killer, Nelson (Jeremy Holm). She journeys through the multiverse in the hopes of finding a world in which her daughter is still alive, but instead, she happens across Mia (Stella Marcus), a would-be victim of Nelson whom Irene saves and inadvertently sets down the path of revenge much like her own.
Despite its fantastical premise, Redux Redux is not a universe-hopping film with a hyper-futuristic machine and nor is Irene armed with ray guns; instead, opting for a nondescript black box that the protagonist purchased from the black market. Each universe she travels to is similar to the last with subtle differences, grounding the tale in reality, which makes Irene's plight all the more heart-wrenching. Grief consumes every facet of her body, threatening to derail her entire life until there is nothing left, and no one to remember Anna. Redux Redux asks us how far we will go for the ones we love while posing a cautionary tale about leaving our grief unchecked and its somewhat contagious nature.
Its slick design gives way to a warm heart through Irene and Mia's relationship, which exposes flashes of who Irene was as a mother as she takes Mia under her wing as a surrogate daughter. Mia's thirst to destroy her captor and would-be killer is a pain Irene knows all too well, and despite how much it has eroded her humanity, she still endeavours to prevent Mia from falling to the same fate.
Michaela's performance as Irene is something to behold, embodying the pain of losing a child in frightening detail, from her strained voice attempting to contain her emotion when reminiscing on her daughter's life, to the calculated and methodical way in which she attempts to exorcise her demons with violence levied toward Nelson. Marcus' turn as Mia offers a punchy, spirited element to the narrative, which sometimes ails due to the repetitive nature of its plot and Irene's plight.
Redux Redux combines tender moments with stylised violence, bursts of explosive action, and a twisty narrative that always leaves the audience guessing. The crushing weight of grief and trauma pulsates through the captivating performances from gifted newcomer Marcus and Michaela, who commands the screen as the complicated yet endearing Irene. It's a thrilling, bloody ride that will leave your heart both pumping and broken in equal measure.
Redux Redux had its Canadian premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival on 22 July
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