Red Pill Review
Red Pill is a 2021 feature film directed by Tonya Pinkins.
Starting off with a gruesome opening, Red Pill quickly breaks down from there though with unlikeable characters and a case of throwing too many things at the wall to see what sticks.
The opening and gruesome start to the film certainly brings a clear sign of promise with identifying the shock value to surely pull viewers in. However, once we are taken away from that place to the few days earlier car drive down to our vacation home in rural Virginia, things fall apart quickly.
The over-saturated visuals and jarring edits in the car ride take away any goodwill that might be leveraged to this point. Add to that characters who seem to quickly talk all too much in a political space that just doesn’t seem to match the actors portraying them.
This film is ultimately a rebuttal to the world of Trump level politics that we all had to go through from 2016 to early 2021, but with that being an era that for now has subsided somewhat, the world instantly feels dated. Perhaps had the film come out in 2017 or even 2018, it would have been a little more at home with a new political administration in office. I think we all need to take this time to breathe somewhat from everything.
With that semi political rant aside, Red Pill can never seem to find a clear focus point. With the title coming from, of course, the red pill given to Neo in The Matrix series serving as only a side conversation the characters engage in after dinner.
Like putting together a puzzle with the pieces kind of fitting together, you can clearly see what the result is supposed to be, but it doesn’t get there all the way. With attempts at surrealist imagery, horror inspired kills, and a politically over the top ending on their own, some of these things work but together not so much.
Despite trying to create a strong politically minded horror film, Red Pill tries to deliver serious tones to a film that needed more internal meta moments or stronger satire. It ultimately leans in one direction with its approach and tries to mix it up with visual elements that don’t quite work in its favor.
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Cheers!
Daniel Hess
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