Friday, February 12, 2021

Red Dot (2021)




As dark as winter in Lappland, Alan Darborg's twisty Swedish thriller is one of those movies that ultimately works as a two for one. 

The first film, lasting until roughly just beyond the midpoint, is about a mixed race couple from Stockholm who set off to the mountains in the hope that the northern lights will re-illuminate their path. 

Soon, all the familiar Hollywood wilderness horror boxes are being ticked. The 'meet cute' at a gas station, racist rednecks, unoccupied cabins in the woods, a pet dog you know is doomed from the moment it first appears etc. 

And then, without spoiling the switch entirely, I can add that things suddenly take a very different turn, and from that point onwards pretty much all the tropes are ruthlessly subverted. 

This second movie feels somehow more intelligent, and yet I was left with an odd sense of nostalgia for the dumb one that had been cut rather short. 


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