REDUX REDUX Review – Fantasia International Film Festival 2025

An entertaining, revenge-fueled thrill ride, The McManus Brothers’ “Redux Redux” is one of the most thrilling films to come out of Fantasia this year.

Synopsis

Irene Kelly moves through various parallel universes to kill her daughter’s murderer repeatedly. Her well-being is upended when she becomes addicted to the acts of revenge.

Review
The first shot of “Redux Redux”, the tense vengeance sci-fi thriller from Kevin & Matthew McManus is a hell of an opening image: a woman stares with a hardened, gaze as a man – lit in blazing fire – screams in agony as he falls over while tied to a chair. The meaning behind the violent, tense relationship between these two doesn’t matter yet but if any film in which revenge is presented as an emotional, violent time loop is going to have a hard-hitting opening, it’s no doubt this. “Redux Redux” follows Irene Kelly (Michaela McManus), the Sarah Connor from hell who travels through multiple dimensions for one soul-crushing purpose – to repeatedly kill the vicious man (Jeremy Holm) who murdered her daughter. Along the way of one of her repeated journeys, she comes across Mia (Stella Marcus), a rebellious young girl with whom Irene is stuck with while she aims to complete her repeated mission…but she also serves as a reason for Irene to have maybe a more hopeful purpose. “Redux Redux” is a mix of “The Terminator” meets “Back to the Future” with a “Looper” soul. It has an indie thriller edge and its tense pace never totally lets up until the credits roll.

“Redux Redux” is a tense, fun ride filled with depth and emotional complexity. When it comes to the twists and turns, it shrewdly keeps its cards close to its chest. As the film builds twist upon twist, the core of this looped revenge story lies within the relationship between Irene and Mia. In contrast to Irene’s levelled and focused determination for revenge, Mia is a chaotic, defiant opposing force who also serves as a conduit for Irene’s unresolved feelings of grief. As they zig and zag through dimensions, both women find a confidant in the other and also find a stubborn sense of family within one another. Michaela McManus (also a sister to the directors) delivers a great complex, pained performance as Irene. When we first meet Irene, she is cold, she is numb and she is determined – but she isn’t without some solace, relegating herself to repeatedly hooking up with nice guy Jonathan (played by actor-director Jim Cummings) who she picks up outside of his therapy group meetings. Besides the occasional hookup, there isn’t much for this tortured character to look forward to except putting down the man who took everything from her – whether it’s shooting him dead at his day job (a diner), burning him alive or shooting him dead in his bed. McManus delivers a terrific, badass performance that evolves as we dig deep into her character and more of her history is revealed in her dialogue with Mia. Newcomer Stella Marcus does solid work as Mia, delivering a spunky, humorous performance that adds a fun element to the McManus’ Brothers unpredictable ride. The only setback with the character of Mia is that she constantly runs the risk of going into trope territory – the comparisons to John Connor from “Terminator 2” are clear but there are more than a few scenes where her rebellion feels more like typical convenience of plot rather than character-justified.

“Redux Redux” is the perfect kind of Fantasia film that sneaks up on you with its clever blending of genres (western and sci-fi fused together). The McManus’ Brothers are in full impressive control with their tight direction and fast paced writing – almost every element (sans a more grounded supporting character) is in line here –the action, the story, the pace and the mechanics of the film’s futuristic elements. When it comes to the explanation of its time travel principles, the rules are simply explained but they’re not dumbed down to a point where it insults the audience’s expectations. Another slight setback of the film is its odd, badly-timed humor – there are moments where a character may say a funny line or two and it doesn’t land as great as it could have. Tonal shifts are not a problem but bad comedic timing can sometimes be a deterrent. Nevertheless, these slight setbacks do not take away the film’s power as a thrilling entry in Fantasia’s selection this year.

Closing Thoughts
One of my favorites from Fantasia International Film Festival 2025, “Redux Redux” is the reason why I attend film festivals. This is exactly the type of undiscovered cinematic gem I love to see at the theatre. The McManus’ Brothers understand spectacle as much as they understand story and character and they successfully prove that those three factors are not mutually exclusive. Though it can dark and raw at times, “Redux Redux” never failed to entertain me and left me with an excited enough impression that I cannot highly recommend this picture more than I already have.

Trailer