Red

One ultimately can’t help but question Red‘s inclusion with After Dark’s line-up, as the film, though quite good, never entirely comes off as the horrific endeavor that one might’ve anticipated based solely on the premise. This is despite the presence of several genre-friendly figures both in front of and behind the camera, including co-director Lucky McKee (May, The Woods), screenwriter Stephen Susco (The Grudge, The Grudge 2), and actors Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Ashley Laurence (Hellraiser). The movie casts Brian Cox as Avery Ludlow, a lonely recluse whose orderly life is thrown into chaos after a trio of teenaged punks (Noel Fisher’s Danny, Kyle Gallner’s Harold, and Shiloh Fernandez’s Pete) kill his beloved dog in cold blood. The majority of Red follows Cox’s character as he attempts to exact some form of lawful retribution for the callous act, though Avery’s various efforts are stymied at virtually every turn (eg the cops, his lawyer, and even the boys’ respective fathers prove unable or unwilling to assist Avery in his cause). And while not a whole lot happens during the film’s slightly overlong running time, Red remains engaging from start to finish primarily thanks to Cox’s absolutely mesmerizing performance – with a sequence in which Avery delivers a long, uninterrupted monologue recounting a tragic event from past certainly standing out as a highlight. The film’s subsequent refusal to adopt the attributes of a typical revenge thriller hardly comes as a surprise, as directors McKee and Trygve Allister Diesen use Cox’s Oscar-worthy work as a springboard for a deliberately paced and downright thoughtful piece of work.

*** out of ****