Red Dot

Directed by Alain Darborg, Red Dot follows Swedish couple Nadja (Nanna Blondell) and David (Anastasios Soulis) as they’re forced to run for their lives after a weekend getaway into the country takes a decidedly deadly turn. It’s clear immediately that Red Dot benefits substantially from Blondell and Soulis’ compelling, sympathetic work as the affable central characters, and there’s little doubt that the movie’s decidedly familiar setup is, as a result, not as problematic as one might’ve feared – although it’s equally apparent that the protagonists’ initial encounters with a pair of threatening rednecks seem to promise an entirely rote, paint-by-numbers thriller with few surprises. (And it doesn’t help, either, that the grim fate of Nadja and David’s dog is never in doubt.) The somewhat tired cat-and-mouse midsection, which does, at least, possess a handful of compelling sequences (eg a perilous trip across an icy body of water), is eventually (and thankfully) alleviated by a thoroughly unexpected twist at around the one-hour mark, with the movie, beyond that point, transforming into a progressively grim endeavor that builds towards a satisfying, revelation-heavy climactic stretch – thus cementing Red Dot‘s place as a relentlessly erratic yet ultimately rewarding piece of work.

**1/2 out of ****