The Multiverse Trend Finally Got The Horror Movie It So Desperately Needs

The phrase "breaking the cycle" typically signifies putting an end to a repetitive pattern of damaging behaviors — whether it be cycles of abuse, addiction, oppression, trauma, or grief. As destructive as the cycle may be, it's difficult to break out of for reasons that go beyond the systemic forces keeping people trapped within. After all, there's also an odd sense of familiarity that often paralyzes us from wanting to try something different. Even if it's bad for us, at least we can predict the outcome and prepare for what it brings. In Kevin and Matthew McManus' "Redux Redux," a mother named Irene Kelly (Michaela McManus) has invested in a machine sold on the black market that gives her the ability to jump between parallel universes of our world. Multiverse stories are having a huge moment, but Irene isn't transporting herself for curiosity's sake or to defeat an interdimensional villain; she's looking for a timeline where her murdered daughter is still alive.

Irene's daughter was kidnapped and killed by a serial killer named Neville (the always great Jeremy Holm), who usually works as a fry cook but sometimes has other jobs, depending on which multiverse she arrives in. Unfortunately, for the countless times she's jumped, the result has remained the same: Her daughter is dead, Neville is the one who killed her, and Irene is going to process her grief by enacting her own, cold-blooded revenge on her daughter's perpetrator. By the time we meet Irene, she's killed Neville so many times she's lost count. Her cycle of grief has evolved into a cycle of violence, one she's unsure she'll ever be able to break.

The McManus Brothers have mainstream credibility, having produced and written episodes of both "American Vandal" and "Cobra Kai," but their feature filmography is a fascinating array of styles. Their debut feature "Funeral Kings" is a scrappy, coming-of-age comedy about altar boys who get into hijinks after working at funerals, while "The Block Island Sound" is an aquatic sci-fi thriller that Kalyn Corrigan described in her review for /Film as "a fever dream of a movie." Now, they've delivered their strongest film yet, one that quickly became one of the most talked about flicks at the Overlook Film Festival.

Unlike all those multiverse stories that display parallel universes as fantastically different (like the one where Loki is an alligator), "Redux Redux" never takes its feet off the ground despite its inherently sci-fi premise. Each new universe is nearly identical to the one visited before, so much so that Irene is able to stockpile keys for getaway trucks, rent vacant hotel rooms, and anticipate Neville's daily routine. In some universes, he doesn't get the day off as usual and Irene is forced to kill him in broad daylight at the diner where he works, but these are minor inconveniences compared to the agonizing pain she endures every day as a grieving mother.

The science behind "Redux Redux" isn't overcomplicated and requires some serious suspension of disbelief, but the how behind Irene's journey isn't nearly as interesting as the why. Take, for example, Irene's habit of catching an occasional cocktail with the chatty Jonathan (Jim Cummings), a man who is also experiencing grief in every universe but is unaware whenever he meets Irene that this isn't the first time they've crossed paths. Rage is no way to cure yourself of sorrow, but she's willing to keep trying, even if it kills her.

Irene's new cycle is only interrupted when she crosses paths in one universe with a young woman named Mia (Stella Marcus in a fantastic debut), a would-be fellow victim of Neville who managed to escape his grasp. She's feisty and sharp-tongued, providing a needed light-hearted salve from Irene's painful seriousness. Her intrusion into Irene's adventure not only prevents "Redux Redux" from feeling, well, repetitive, but her presence also allows us to see a new side of Irene — the woman she was before Neville ruined her life.

There are countless movies about grieving mothers, but we seldom get to see the loving, motherly side of their personalities before tragedy transformed them into Sarah Connor-archetypes. It's quite touching to see how quickly "mom mode" comes flooding back to Irene, reflexively interjecting conversations with reminders of what Mia should do to take better care of herself. It's also jarring considering we've seen Irene graphically obliterate Neville in countless ways, a reminder that many of our own mothers would slice, dice, stab, shoot, and set on fire anyone who would take us from them.

By keeping the film in a lo-fi setting, "Redux Redux" feels like a film that would be right at home with the work of Rustic Films, especially last year's fellow Overlook Film Festival standout, "Things Will Be Different." In an era when studios are inflating already-obscene budgets in the hopes of building CGI multiverses only for their tentpoles to underperform at the box office (inspiring executives to shrug their shoulders and act as if there was no way to predict that the movie wouldn't be a hit), "Redux Redux" is a phenomenal reminder that money will never be a match for a great story brought to life with incredible actors. These are the kinds of stories that we should be investing in and the type of creative voices we should be fostering.

At least we can take solace in knowing that in another parallel universe, we are.