Review by Jon Donnis
Redux Redux arrives with a high concept and the nerve to see it through. Written and directed by Kevin and Matthew McManus, this 2026 American science fiction thriller hinges on a brutal, intimate idea. A mother discovers a way to cross parallel universes and uses it for one purpose. To hunt down and repeatedly kill the man who murdered her daughter.
Michaela McManus takes on the role of Irene Kelly with a performance that does most of the heavy lifting. Irene has turned grief into routine. In universe after universe she tracks Neville, a seemingly ordinary restaurant cook who is anything but, and executes him with cold determination. The repetition is the point. Each jump is another attempt to claw back control in a cosmos that took everything from her.
The film's multiverse mechanics are present, but wisely kept from overwhelming the human story. Irene's machine allows her to slip between realities, though the technical detail is sketched rather than laboured over. The focus stays on what that power does to a person. In one world she saves a teenage runaway, Mia, from becoming Neville's next victim. That rescue shifts the film's centre of gravity. What begins as a revenge thriller slowly becomes something more reflective, even tender.
Stella Marcus gives Mia a wary resilience that plays beautifully against Irene's brittle intensity. Their uneasy alliance grows in fits and starts. There are gunfights, narrow escapes and a tense detour involving smugglers who want something far darker than cash in exchange for help. Yet the most compelling moments come when the action quietens and the two sit with their shared trauma. The sci fi tone holds best not when the film tries to outline the rules of its technology, but when these characters find a strange comfort in one another's pain.
Jeremy Holm's Neville is chilling precisely because he is not exaggerated. He feels plausible. That plausibility gives weight to Irene's obsession and keeps the stakes grounded even as the story hops across realities. A later turn into a universe where events unfolded very differently adds a reflective edge, without tipping into sentimentality or easy answers. The McManus brothers show real ambition here. They are interested less in spectacle and more in the emotional cost of endless second chances.
Visually, Redux Redux does show its indie roots. The scale is modest and some of the effects carry the faint roughness of a low budget production. Sets are sparse, locations limited. Yet there is a certain charm in that restraint. The stripped back aesthetic suits a story that is fundamentally about isolation. Paul Koch's agile synth score adds texture and momentum, lending the film a propulsive energy that belies its means.
There are moments where the script brushes up against exposition that feels slightly on the nose. A few exchanges about how the machine works lack the elegance found elsewhere. Still, these are minor stumbles in a film that largely trusts its audience. It is a clever and ambitious take on the multiverse, one that keeps its attention on the heart of the matter rather than getting lost in cosmic minutiae.
Above all, Redux Redux is character driven. Its approach to revenge is surprisingly humane. It asks whether vengeance, even across infinite worlds, can ever truly heal anything. McManus carries the film with a performance that is fierce, wounded and ultimately moving.
For an indie production, this feels remarkably assured. I wish Hollywood would put this kind of thought and effort into its big budget releases. As it stands, Redux Redux is one of the strongest independent releases of 2026 so far. I would comfortably give it a 9 out of 10.
Out Now on Digital
