Directed by Kevin and Matthew McManus, sci-fi horror/thriller Redux Redux comes to streaming off the back of a fair amount of hype after playing several festivals, including South by Southwest, where it had its premiere as part of their Midnighter strand last year. Festival hype is, of course, always to be taken with a grain of salt, but in the case of Redux Redux, it feels very warranted.

Michaela McManus, sister and frequent collaborator of the directors, stars as Irene Kelly, a woman who moves through a variety of parallel universes, seeking out Neville (Jeremy Holm), the serial killer who took her daughter’s life, and killing him repeatedly in an act of multiversal revenge. She hopes that she will eventually get to a universe in which her daughter is still alive, so she can reunite with her.

On the one hand, Irene is becoming a dab hand at travelling through the multiverse (something which she does by way of a machine that looks like a space-age coffin), having figured out Neville’s routine down to knowing the day he gets paid from his diner job. On the other hand, it’s clearly an incredibly lonely, exhausting existence. But when Irene ends up saving Mia (Stella Marcus), a teenage runaway who’s being held hostage by that universe’s version of Neville, she gains an unexpected ally in her quest for vengeance. A feisty ally who ends up stealing Irene’s gun, but an ally, nonetheless.

Stella Marcus, making her feature debut, is impressive as the spiky Mia, a teen who’s been in the care system for as long as she can remember and comes with a built-in distrust of anyone offering her help. She makes a great double act with Michaela McManus, who is devastatingly good as Irene.

McManus plays into the weight of the character’s grief, unafraid to show the exhaustion (both mentally and physically) of warping through layers of the space-time continuum in perpetual search of revenge. Irene isn’t some kind of invincible action heroine; she is simply a woman driven to extremes by her grief for her daughter, while also worrying that this endless loop in which she’s found herself is hacking away at her own humanity. The weariness is audible in her voice, visible in her face as she watches Neville die in that opening scene in the desert. It’s a breathtaking, achingly human performance.

With Redux Redux, the McManus brothers take the bones of a standard revenge thriller and work them into a thrilling sci-fi/horror blend. It’s efficient filmmaking, furthered by the fact that every universe has only the smallest of changes. A mug changes colour, and a location that was open is now closed. And rather than explaining everything right away, they trust the viewer to lock in and work it out as they go along. It’s an act of trust that allows Redux Redux to keep moving, much like its main character, barely pausing for breath.

Believe the hype.

Redux Redux is on UK and Ireland digital platforms now!