As much as I like to think I’ve got my finger on the pulse of genre cinema, as I get older, I have to admit: I don’t really have my finger on the pulse of genre cinema. Take Redux Redux, for example. Did I know this premiered at last year’s South by Southwest Film Festival? Did I know that it scored rave reviews, aka 98% positive on Rotten Tomatoes? Well, no, I didn’t know these things until an official trailer came out, but even if I’m slow on the uptake, it’s not too late to change my ways. I can now understand why Redux Redux got such strong reviews: it’s a genre mashup of beloved, lo-fi sci-fi stories executed effectively, and while it never feels completely fresh, it manages to never feel derivative.

Irene (Michaela McManus) is tired. She’s been trying to track down Neville (Jeremy Holm), the man responsible for killing her daughter. The thing is, though, she’s already done it: she’s killed Neville countless times in parallel universes, as she has a device allowing her to jump from one reality to another, hoping she can make it to a reality where her daughter is still alive. After meeting Mia (Stella Marcus), Irene’s plan sees some setbacks, with Irene questioning everything she thought she knew about her mission.

One of the most effective elements of Redux Redux is the way filmmakers Kevin and Matthew McManus navigate the mythology and backstory of the reality-jumping mechanics. They know that the “how” of the narrative is less important than the “why,” and they only introduce those plot points when necessary and when it motivates the plot forward. Given that this is an indie movie, the lack of investment in the headier concepts could have been a cost-saving measure, but other than appeasing the audiences who prefer that sci-fi tech, it’s hard to say the movie could have been improved if it leaned into expected sci-fi iconography.

Potentially one drawback to the more minimalist take on a sci-fi revenge story is that it’s hard to not compare it to the many stories that clearly influenced this outing. The McManus brothers seem to be inspired by things like The Terminator, Looper, Blue Ruin, Upgrade, Sliders, Primer, and likely dozens more titles. Luckily, the pair don’t seem to be trying to reinvent the wheel or even trying to make the movie distinctly different from those influences, with Redux Redux feeling less like a copycat of those influences and more of a “greatest hits” tribute to those cult-classic movies.

The look of the film is what makes watching this experience unfold so engaging, with the cinematography striking the right balance of looking like a gritty, grimy tale of revenge but also having a sheen that conveys the heightened reality of what we’re seeing. Even though the visuals themselves aren’t particularly thrilling, as it’s mostly Irene and Mia traveling around Los Angeles and taking jaunts out to the desert, the McManus brothers put just as much care into the look of the film as they did into the way the narrative unfolds. Redux Redux is a great example of showing audiences instead of telling them, as it’s one thing to know the narrative of the movie, and it’s another to experience it.

Both McManus and Marcus are relatively competent in their performances, as McManus manages to convey not only the trauma she’s suffered from losing her daughter, but also how exhausted and weary she is from embarking on this quest. She’s not a John Wick-esque figure; she’s a mother who’s done this enough times to know the quickest way to escape a situation. Marcus brings a liveliness to the experience that juxtaposes Irene’s downtrodden attitude, making it easy to see how Mia could have an impact on Irene while not making her a helpless figure. The pair manages to effectively bring the story to life, though it’s the script and how its underwhelming dialogue prevents McManus and Marcus from being truly engaging that holds Redux Redux back from reaching the heights of the movies that influenced it. Neither the script nor the performances are bad, per se, just that it seems that more time was invested into the story and the look of the film than it was invested in avoiding cliches and tropes.

If you’re a fan of barebones sci-fi stories or tales of revenge, then there’s something about Redux Redux you’ll like. Given that there are so many ways that lo-fi sci-fi can go wrong, and has gone wrong, the fact that the McManus brothers pulled this off in the first place is an impressive feat, and even if it might remind you of movies that came before it, it never feels like a facsimile of those titles. Not only does the movie pull off the difficult task of putting a new spin on a multiverse story, but it also puts the McManus brothers on all genre fans’ radars, as we can’t wait to see what they get up to next.

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