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| Redux Redux |
Matthew and Kevin McManus' Redux Redux follows a woman named Irene Kelly (Michaela McManus) who jumps from one parallel universe to another, killing her daughter's murderer over and over and again. When Irene crosses paths with teenage runaway Mia (Stella Marcus), she's forced to confront her addiction to the cycle of violence, and not only try to save her own humanity but rescue Mia from repeating similar mistakes.
The McManus Brothers’ previous credits include their 2012 feature début, Street Kings, a coming-of-age drama about three mischievous, foul-mouthed altar boys who play hooky from school and find trouble. They followed this up with the 2020 science fiction horror, The Block Island Sound, which revolves around a mysterious force influencing the behaviour of local residents of a coastal town. They have also served as consulting producers on the episodic series Cobra Kai.
In conversation with Eye For Film, Matthew and Kevin McManus discussed shying away from wish fulfilment to interrogate the serious undertones of vengeance, finding their North Star in an Eighties classic and following Werner Herzog’s advice.
Paul Risker: There's the adage about first and lasting impressions. Redux Redux's opening shot is a powerful one that immediately commands the audience’s attention. What was your thought process behind this visually striking opening?
Kevin McManus: That opening shot was one that Matt and I were talking about right up until the beginning of the shoot. We knew we wanted an opening shot where you understand what this movie is going to be about, and we wanted something visceral for two reasons. The first reason was we wanted an image that made people get off their phones and start watching — to pay attention. But the second thing we wanted was a powerful image that encapsulated the theme of the movie, the story, and everything, all in one go.
We were excited when it occurred to us that we could light a man on fire, for both the reasons I mentioned. We get a good visceral image, but also, it's something we have always wanted to do in one of our movies. Practically, that is a classic thing to be able to do in a movie, and so, getting to check that box was fun.
PR: Was there ever an inspirational or defining moment where your desire to make films was born?
Matthew McManus: Yeah, it's a bunch of moments. We've been making movies together with our sister [Michaela] since we were all kids — 11 or 12-years-old. It's funny because my mom is a community theatre actress, and so we'd go to all of her plays growing up. She was always fantastic in them, but as a kid, a lot of them went over my head. Then, finally, she was in a murder mystery. There's a blank gun on set, there are trapdoors and there's violence, and as an eight-year-old it's just the coolest thing ever. And at the very end of the play, my mom was the murderer. She didn't tell us going into it, and so, it just blew our minds. I thought this was the coolest thing ever, and I didn’t understand how adults get to do that. It was at that moment I thought, 'I've got to do this exact thing as much as I can,' and I don't think we ever looked back.
PR: How does Redux Redux fit into your filmography to date?
KM: Funeral Kings was the one that got us started and it's very much a coming-of-age comedy. It's not Redux Redux; it's a lot more like some of the TV work we've done on American Vandal and Cobra Kai. The Block Island Sound is our most recent one, which is a little bit more of a sci-fi, grounded human story, with a little bit of a genre bend to it. I'd say what excites us most is trying to do more stories that are human stories with a sci-fi or a genre bend. That's what kind of feeds our soul and our North Star is the original Terminator. That's what we would love to do with our career.
MM: That's what we consume the most too. Something to get excited about is what are the best horror movies and what's getting us to go and check out movies. It’s funny because Werner Herzog said, "If you want to make good shit, you got to eat good food." And so, we're always trying to eat that good food — the best horror films and genre stuff we can find.
KM: There's something about filmmaking where there are so many aspects that you're always learning, and you're always trying to work on your craft and find your voice. For Matt and I, we usually have a very specific goal every time we make a movie. We try to do something a little outside our comfort zone; something we haven't done a lot before, to try to exercise that muscle and learn a new set of skills.
So, for this one, it is more action-heavy than The Block Island Sound and was certainly way more action-heavy than Funeral Kings. Being able to try and learn some of those tricks of the trade and really lean in on that was something that was exciting for us to learn those new skills.
PR: To pick up on your point about the human side of storytelling, this comes through in moments in which the characters talk to one another. Some of the most memorable scenes of Redux Redux are not the action-driven scenes but the verbal interaction, which imbues the film with that human element.
MM: We're so lucky to work with Michaela because she has this deep reservoir for the human and emotional stuff. When you see her go there, you know you're going along for the ride, and you know she's going to deliver every single time.
Then, to speak to those characters talking, it's an interesting thing with this film because, in the beginning, there is not a lot of talking. We're just along for the ride with Irene's process, and then it shifts to where the talking is now holding the wheel. For those scenes to really work, we knew Michaela was going to be there for the emotional stuff. She's such a captivating actress, but we needed her counterpart of Mia to be funny and a spark plug, and the opposite to her.
Casting that role was nerve-wracking. Stella Marcus hasn't done much. She's nineteen-years-old and this is her first film. She's amazing, and she's just the most fun person to watch. She absolutely crushed that role and to sit behind that monitor and see them work together was a joy. Every take was funny, and we just wanted to keep doing takes just to keep watching them work together.
PR: Irene is exhausted and is looking for a way to escape this violent and vengeful cycle she has become trapped in. Meanwhile, Mia needs to be vulnerable, but she lacks the self-awareness necessary. Both characters carry themselves with an assertiveness and toughness, and each needs to embrace their respective vulnerability.
KM: I love that point of view. You're right, they both have their guard up, and it's very different for each. Irene has to be protective in a very practical way. She has also found herself in a corner because she's so deep in the multiverse, that at a certain point she has become lost and untethered from a normal life. She can't go back, and all she has is this killing routine.
Then, you have Mia, who has grown up with a hard life. She had to have her guard up to survive in her own right. So, she thinks that she can do anything. She thinks she's as tough as anybody. She doesn't necessarily know that there is a guard there until she has to come face-to-face with it. You're right, both of them have to come face-to-face with the fact that they are vulnerable, and where you find your humanity is in your vulnerability.
MM: Watching the movie, one of the most exciting moments for me is at the very end where there's this tenderness between those two characters — the vulnerability is there. That moment always gets me right in the heart, just seeing them embrace each other, and you think they're actually going to be okay.
PR: One of the film's most important lines belongs to the truck driver who has hardly any screen time. Her words are a caution to Mia and offer foresight into the trajectory of her journey. In hindsight, just as the first shot sought to communicate what the film would be, this small bit of dialogue is key to the entire story.
KM: She is gently trying to coax Mia into realising that she's going down the wrong path. She knows, 'I can scare this girl off because I was this girl.' But of course, Mia has her guard up, and she will not listen. It's this little cautionary moment that Mia just can't accept, and she ends up regretting it.
PR: Would you agree that beyond this one moment, Redux Redux is essentially a cautionary tale?
MM: It's a morality tale about the perils of revenge, right? Listen, I love revenge flicks, and I have a blast watching them. So many are this wish fulfilment, and I'm there for those movies for sure, but it was exciting to tell a story where you ask what it would really feel like? It would feel terrible to see somebody go down this rabbit hole and experience this addiction to revenge. It was the opportunity to talk about the real-world implications of what it would feel like, especially if you're not encountering any consequences in the real world. What is it doing to your soul? What's the actual human cost?
PR: In spite of these serious intentions, Redux Redux is a rollicking fun film. There are humorous lines that almost suggest a self-awareness of the form and offer a wink at the audience.
MM: Whenever we're making a movie, it's so important that the movie is fun because it's obviously intense stuff. Life's too short to only have brooding movies all the time. I want to have fun, and I want to enjoy them. I want to laugh, and I want to be excited. We're always thinking about how we want to have that meatiness to it, but we also want the fun and enjoyment. And, you have got to have both of those things at the same time.
PR: A director told me that the person you are before you start a film is different to the person you are when you finish a film. Is filmmaking a transformative experience for you personally?
MM: You're working things out, especially when you're writing. So, I do think there is this kind of discovery. Stephen King talked about writing The Shining at some point, and he said, "I wrote The Shining, and I didn't realise I was an alcoholic, even though I was writing about an alcoholic writer." I thought that was so poignant because, in its own way, it's a sort of therapy by dealing with morality and all this heaviness. So, yeah, you do discover stuff about yourself for sure.
I remember when we made our first movie, a coming-of-age story about 14-year-old kids and dealing with consequences and having all these revelations about not realising what that felt like.
KM: It's funny too, because oftentimes when we are working on a new project, we've got this idea, and we're cultivating what that idea can become. Just this week we were talking about a new idea and Matt said, "It's another movie about grief. Why do we keep coming back to this thing?" Clearly, there are some suppressed feelings that are trying to get out. The themes you play with are not always intentional, and you discover something about yourself through that exploration.
Redux Redux premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
