Thanks mainly to Marvel Studios, the concept of the multiverse has become, in many quarters, synonymous with lazy storytelling. It’s often rightly derided as a writer’s crutch that also allows hungry studios to revive dead characters, retell stories again and again, and recycle IP into infinity. Many viewers have become wary of films that incorporate the multiverse, and they should be (if a multiverse storyline justifies casting Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, get out the pitchforks and torches). Then there’s Redux Redux, the latest bit of riveting, lo-fi sci-fi from brothers Kevin and Matthew McManus, who have crafted a downright brilliant new use for such a tired device. In telling the story of a woman who travels to alternate universes to repeatedly kill the man who murdered her daughter, the multiverse becomes a very effective metaphor for a mother’s never-ending cycle of grief.
The McManus brothers, whose previous film was 2021’s eerie sci-fi gem The Block Island Sound, have a solid psychological handle on the idea that grief avoidance is easy when anger makes you feel powerful and in control. The problem is that anger is not a long-term solution to overcoming your sorrow. This is certainly the case with Irene (Michaela McManus), who has spent years traveling to different universes in a coffin-shaped machine to kill the man who kidnapped and murdered her daughter. Through sheer repetition across hundreds of timelines, she has come to learn that Neville (Jeremy Holm) is the murderer, that he works at a diner, and that he gets paid on Thursdays. The details of Neville’s identity and whereabouts differ slightly in each timeline, but each one ends with Irene shooting him, suffocating him, or setting him on fire. For Irene, killing Neville has stopped being cathartic. It has become her life’s only remaining purpose, one that has made her numb and has long denied her any satisfaction.
The whys and wherefores of dimension jumping, and the potential plot holes that arise from them, are smartly avoided because they’re not important. We’re never told which universe Irene comes from, although it’s certainly one where multidimensional travel exists. Her steampunk casket allows for the occasional, well-edited, budget-friendly action scene, which usually ends with Irene jumping into the machine and flying to another universe.
That means there’s certainly enough in Redux Redux to satisfy the sci-fi crowd, but the film is more focused on Irene’s deadening sorrow. Each new universe not only provides her with a fresh opportunity to violently dispatch the ever-deserving Neville, but it also gives her hope that maybe, in this timeline, her daughter is still alive. And just when you start to wonder how repetitive the story is going to get, Irene arrives in a new universe just in time to rescue 15-year-old Mia (spunky newcomer Stella Marcus) from being Neville’s next victim, sending the story in a fairly predictable but still absorbing direction.
In fact, Redux Redux leans a bit plot-heavy, and it would have deepened our investment if Irene was more forthcoming about her feelings. But she is defined by one thing — to us and to herself — so she allows Mia to accompany her to the desert to kill Neville once again. The McManus brothers, who are both veterans of the Netflix series American Vandal and Cobra Kai, find some fresh layers for Mia, who risks eating up too much screen time begging Irene to tag along as she heads to the desert to track down Neville. She’s lived in six foster homes, each with its own kind of sadness, which creates an interesting parallel with Irene. And she plays a crucial role in a tense scene where Irene meets a black-market dealer of parts for multiverse-hopping machines.
Redux Redux is on par with films like Primer and Safety Not Guaranteed, whose budget limitations were no match for their filmmakers’ ingenuity and creativity. The brothers are clearly ready for bigger film projects, and hopefully they will take their sister with them. Michaela McManus, also the star of The Block Island Sound, proves herself a steely presence of the Linda Hamilton variety who still convinces as a shell of a woman who rediscovers her motherly instincts through her bond with Mia.
The movie — which, frankly, could have used a better title — doesn’t quite stick the landing with its lengthy climax featuring a chatterbox villain and a bear trap. But by then, we are too invested in wanting Irene to find some kind of closure. Like the best science fiction, Redux Redux uses futuristic concepts as a springboard for discussion of more universal ideas. No amount of vengeance with a six-shooter will erase the grief Irene feels. Coming to terms with loss means finding a way to live with it and then marshaling the courage to move on. Redux Redux understands this and finds a unique way to explore it.
- Release Date
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February 20, 2026
- Runtime
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109 minutes
- Director
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Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus
- Writers
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Matthew McManus, Kevin McManus
- Producers
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Matthew McManus, PJ McCabe, Kevin McManus, Michael J. McGarry, Nate Cormier
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Michaela McManus
Irene Kelly
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