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One of the stand-out movies of FrightFest 2025 is the superb Redux Redux from Kevin and Matthew McManus so we had to chat to this creative duo.
NYX: Did you both know when growing up you’d want to work in the film industry?
We’ve wanted to be filmmakers as long as we can remember. Our mom is an actress in Rhode Island and she did a play when we were maybe eight years old. It was a murder mystery and the the big reveal at the end was that our mom was the murderer. You can imagine how proud we were of her. It was definitely a core memory, and I think that really ignited our interest in acting, writing, and directing. From there we started making movies with the family camcorder and got our sisters and pals to perform in them. It feels pretty special to be doing in professionally with our sister and mom today.
NYX: Where did the idea for Redux Redux come from?
This isn’t the most exciting answer, but Kevin and I work 9-5 everyday writing and coming up with ideas for movies. Often one of us will show up with a nugget of an idea and we’ll throw the ball around a bit and see if there’s anything there. That’s the way it was for Redux Redux. The idea started off simple enough: what if you lost your child and had the opportunity to kill the guy who did it over and over again, would you ever stop? I don’t want to spoil anything in the movie, but there are a couple big turning points that happen in the movie, and once those fell into place we knew this was a film we were dead set on making.
NYX: What is your writing process. Does one of you pace the room as the other types?
We’re index card guys and nerds about story structure. So we break down each movie scene by scene on a huge board, and then we take turns writing and passing the script back and forth. One guy will write until he runs out of gas, and the next day the other guy will rewrite those pages and use that momentum to write the next few scenes. The system helps us catch a bunch of the bumps along the way.
NYX: So how about directing, do you cut up specific scenes and assign yourselves to it?
It’s such a joint effort. It’s really all about preparation. We do a heavy shot list and figure out all of our technical plans up front, and then on the day we’re able to execute those plans and really focus on performance.
NYX: The cast are incredible, each one delivering deep, emotional performances, was it a hard movie to cast?
Thanks! We were incredibly lucky to find such a talented cast, and luckier that they all were so committed and fun to work with. Our lead actress is our sister, Michaela. Truthfully though, we hadn’t imagined her in the role when we first came up with the idea. We started writing the script many years ago when Michaela was too young to have a teenaged daughter. As luck would have it, we spent so many years trying to get this movie made through the studio system, that by the time we were able to make it independently we were able to cast her. That was really exciting for us. We all came out to LA to make movies around the same time, and we still help each other out. We’ll help put Michaela on tape from time to time, and so we’re so aware of her incredible range as an actress. It was awesome to be able to show audiences this side of her.
NYX: Each main character is given time to develop fully, you really get to know each one, did the cast have much time to rehearse?
I wish! The only thing we were really able to do was a table read before production began. So much of the performances come from the prep work that our cast did and brought to set. They all did their homework, came prepared, and blew us away. My favourite bit of prep work was by Jeremy Holm. He was really trying to get into the head space of Neville and started writing poetry in his voice and sending it to us. It was so unnerving and gross we had to politely ask him to please stop sharing this stuff with us.
NYX: Though a fantastical premise at its heart is an honest story of one woman’s quest for truth, would you agree?
For sure. In many ways I think this is a story about her search for catharsis and closure. I love revenge movies, and the promise of most revenge movies is violent catharsis, but in the real world revenge doesn’t bring catharsis, it bring destruction. To me this movie is a meditation on that.
NYX: The special effects are subtle and so effective, did it take long to design the time machine itself?
We’re so thrilled with the design by our art team. Stephen Dudro created the designs with Charlie Textor and had the machine made at a place called Arête. The script described the machine as “a cross between a coffin and a refrigerator.” We really wanted it to feel like our Delorean or Millennium Falcon. It had to feel functional and beat up with a lot of miles on it. Kevin made a little balsa wood version to show them what we had in mind, and they took that and ran with it. I couldn’t be happier with what they put together.
NYX: Do you believe such things, like time travel are possible?
The part of me that believes in time travel and/or parallel universes is pretty scared by it.
NYX: Love the Sliding Doors reference rather than using something like Marvel.
Haha thanks! Honestly it’s because we wrote the script before the multiverse craze took over and Sliding Doors was the easiest reference point. It’s wild to us how much the sub genre took off.
NYX: Will you be nervous when the movies has its English premiere at FrightFest 2025?
Definitely. My in-laws will be in the audience. I’m just hoping they won’t kick me out of the family after they watch it.
NYX: So, what are you working on at the moment?
We have a new script we’re really excited about. It’s another character driven genre movie that we’re hoping to get made soon!
NYX: Kevin and Matthew McManus, thank you very much.
Thank you!
