The sci-fi revenge thriller Redux Redux throws a wrench into multiverse movies, focusing on Irene Kelly (Michaela McManus) as she travels across different dimensions to murder her daughter’s killer, Neville (Jeremy Holm). Matters become complicated after Irene meets the young Mia (Stella Marcus), who wants revenge too.
Fortress of Solitude’s review of Redux Redux called it “a highly original sci-fi revenge thriller that’ll have you gripped throughout its runtime,” but why did this specific story need to be told? “It was born from a desire to try and tell a multiverse story in a slightly different way,” co-writer and co-director Kevin McManus said.
“One of the closest relatives of the multiverse is time travel. When we were kids watching time-travel movies, it felt more like an excuse to tell a fantasy story, right? To live amongst the dinosaurs, or be in King Arthur’s court. It wasn’t until we were watching movies like The Terminator or Back to the Future where the stories got a lot smaller. Even though The Terminator has world-ending implications, at its core it’s a small, intimate movie. And there’s something about that; it felt personal, it felt character-driven. So, we were really hoping to do the same thing with a multiverse and tell a story where the differences between one universe and another aren’t fantastically large; they’re really tiny.”
For lead star Michaela McManus – sister to the co-writers and co-directors of the film, Kevin and Matthew – Redux Redux‘s story proved important for another reason. “I think now more than ever it’s a great time to pose the question of, is there relief in revenge?” she said. “And do you get what you want after a cycle of this vicious revenge? I think now is the perfect time to pose that question in a world that is very divided and there’s just extremes on either end.”
Stella Marcus echoed Michaela’s sentiments, adding, “As much as it’ll draw in people who are really fans of sci-fi and multiverse things, which is a hot topic at the moment in filmmaking and TV, there is an underbelly of a really raw and emotional story about these two people who need something and who happen to find it in each other. It fits aesthetically in the world of movies and TV shows right now, but it also has its own core to it.”
Telling a story set in the multiverse requires a lot of care, since it’s possible to tie yourself up in knots if it becomes complicated. “That was a big thing for us was, ‘How do we keep this simple? How do we keep it easy and clean for the audience to understand?'” Matthew McManus said. “There was a moment where we had this voiceover where I was explaining all the different intricacies, how a Wi-Fi router has the same password, you can use the same keys from universe to universe, and all that kind of stuff. Then eventually we showed it to people and realized we just don’t need this. The audience doesn’t need to hear all this stuff. They understand how the multiverse works. So simplicity is key. Let’s not beat them over the head with a heavy allure in mythology.”
As an actor, Michaela had her own process to understand the intricacies of Redux Redux. “Right off the bat for me, in reading the scripts, I had never read anything quite like it, and I was getting lost in the minutia of it and feeling nervous about taking that on,” she said. “Part of my process as an actor is when I get a script, I’m breaking down every scene and I create my own bible that I can refer back to while we’re filming. Because I know we’re going to be filming out of order and it just simplifies it for me, so I can go right into where I am at that moment.
“So I read this script so many times, to try and wrap my head around the concept of it all, but the greatest gift that Kevin and Matt gave me with this character and with playing the arc of Irene is that they don’t want you to get bogged down by the details, by all that minutia of multiverse travel and what that means. I think it’s a real gift to the audience too that you don’t have to keep track of anything. It allows you to really focus on the story being told, these characters, and the journey they’re on. That was a great relief to me, and it really helped me navigate this different concept.”
Marcus had a slightly different experience in this regard. “I had a benefit that Mia doesn’t go through as many universes as Irene does and there aren’t a million Mias that we meet in each universe,” Marcus said. “I had one job which was to just stay steady on the emotional throughline of Mia and the journey that she goes on scene to scene. I wasn’t constantly aware of the multiverse aspect of it. I could just hone in on the emotional life of what was going on, which was really nice.”
Redux Redux releases in theaters on February 20, 2026.
Watch the full interview with Michaela McManus and Stella Marcus.
