‘What Genre Do You Think This Is?’: Kevin and Matthew McManus on the Delightfully Original ‘Redux Redux’

Over 50 years after “Death Wish” it’s hard to find a new take on revenge movies, but writing and directing siblings Kevin and Matthew McManus have found a delightfully original and emotionally affecting approach in their new thriller “Redux Redux.” The film follows the adventures of Irene (Michaela McManus, the filmmakers’ sister), a grief-stricken mother who travels through parallel universes to kill her daughter’s murderer over and over again. The problem is that with each act of vengeance Irene finds it harder and harder to get the satisfaction she craves — and realizes she’s losing her soul in the process.

The McManus brothers’ elegantly structured screenplay is a smoothly engineered combination of suspense, tragedy, action, dark humor, and ultimately redemption that veers between wildly disparate tones with carefully calibrated ease. Although it recalls time travel movies like “The Terminator” and “Back to the Future” in its skill at making complicated structural and conceptual conceits accessible and entertaining, its unique style is all its own, and so original that the movie is sometimes difficult to classify.

That goes for the filmmakers themselves, who were surprised to learn during the editing process that their first audience couldn’t clearly articulate what genre the movie belonged to. “After we we screened the movie for the first time with a big group of friends, we asked, ‘What genre do you think this is?'” Matthew McManus told IndieWire. “We were really on the fence ourselves. There are some gruesome elements, but it isn’t a pure horror film in my mind.”

The brothers were surprised to find that the audience didn’t think of it as a straight horror flick or a straight science fiction film, even though it’s a multiverse movie. “They really latched on to the idea that this is a character-driven revenge drama that happens to have sci-fi and horror elements,” Matthew said. “That was a big surprise to us. But it was a lovely surprise, and it’s nice when you learn things about the movie that you didn’t realize.”

‘Redux Redux‘Saban

Keeping the various timelines straight and clear to the audience was tricky for the filmmakers, who found that they had to be more rigorous with the details than on a typical movie. “On every movie up until this point, Matt and I were always like, ‘Continuity be damned,'” Kevin McManus told IndieWire. “If people are noticing the continuity, that means you’ve got bigger problems with your story. But here, that’s where the joy is, in the Easter eggs where you’re seeing a coffee mug change colors or a sign change incrementally. Continuity became much more challenging — and more fun — making sure those things all matched up.”

To a certain degree, the writers were able to simplify their script simply by trusting that the audience would understand the multiverse concept from other films and TV shows. “We started writing almost 10 years ago, and that was before the big multiverse boom,” Kevin said. “There used to be a long monologue at the beginning just explaining what a multiverse even is and how it works, but we were able to strip a lot of that out and just lean into giving the audience the chance to figure it out as they go along.”

A lot of the movie’s power comes from the performances, particularly Michaela’s wrenching work as the rage-filled, devastated heroine. Even before the mechanisms of the plot are clearly understandable, the audience is on board thanks to the depth and economy of expression in Michaela’s performance — we understand intuitively what she’s going for even before the script has made it explicit. For Matthew, directing the actors comes down to giving them “actionable” directions — and not getting too rigid about how the brothers envisioned the characters as they were writing them.

“It’s about giving them pointed directions to get to the results we’re looking for,” Matthew said, “and not falling too much in love with our own explanations for what the character has been through.” The directors quickly learned that for extremely emotional scenes, Michaela worked best if she was allowed to build up on the first take, then do it immediately again without cutting camera. That second try was almost always the best, which on one occasion created problems when the perfect acting take coincided with an unfortunate set mishap.

“The first take was pretty good,” Matthew said. “Then the second take was amazing, and the whole crew was leaning in — it was just magic. And at that moment, a security guard at the ranch where we’re shooting just walks through the background. This big eye sore of a random stranger! We tried it again, and the third take was good but not the same, so we used visual effects to erase this guy and get the perfect performance.”

Matthew and Kevin McManusStella Marcus

Throughout the shoot time was the biggest enemy, as the McManus brothers had only 18 days to make an incredibly complex movie. “Every day was a big day and every day had a massive set piece attached to it,” Kevin said. “Not only that, but every day had heavy emotional beats for the actors to grapple with as well. Running up against time was a constant battle, and the only way you fight that is by being really serious about your prep, really serious about your shot list and executing exactly what you need. Because there’s just no time to get inspired on set.”

That said, making a movie with their sister made shooting “Redux Redux” a joyous experience for the brothers, who were brought back to their childhoods before Michaela made a name for herself on TV shows like “Law and Order: SVU” and the current “Memory of a Killer.” “I can’t help but think back to when I was a little kid making horror movies with my sister,” Matthew said. “I remember back then, her scream was so blood-curdling. On ‘Redux Redux,’ she’d be getting dragged through the dirt screaming, and everyone else on the set was horrified. But Kevin and I both had grins on our faces, because it just reminded us of making movies when we were teenagers.”

“Redux Redux” opens in theaters on Friday, February 20.