New to Netflix this week is the Swedish revenge thriller, Red Dot. The movie – from director Alain Darborg – centres around a married couple who unwittingly become targets in a game of cat and mouse, while out in the snow-covered wilderness.
In the movie, Nadia and David are a young couple experiencing problems in their relationship. Hoping to fix the issues, David whisks Nadia away on a skiing trip, so they can reconnect while spending a few days disconnecting from the outside world.
Shortly into their journey David and Nadia stop off at a service station, where they encounter a pair of game hunters. The hunters seem a little odd, so the couple are keen to drive away from the situation as soon as possible.
While pulling out of the service station, David accidentally scratches the hunters’ truck. Rather than admit to what has happened, he continues to drive on, presuming the incident will go unnoticed.
The incident does not go unnoticed and soon the situation starts to escalate. However, David and Nadia try to put it all behind them, and head into the mountains to enjoy their mini break.
But during the middle of the night the couple notice a red dot appear on the side of their tent. Someone has David and Nadia in their sights, and is keen to make their next few hours a living nightmare.
Red Dot is one of those thrillers that on paper looks pretty straight forward. It has a simple premise, a fairly lean running time (85 mins), and a cold and hostile setting that can provide a great backdrop for drama.
The reason I decided to check out the film today, is because I had previously caught the trailer for Red Dot on one of Netflix’s social media accounts, and thought it would be a good watch for when I had nothing much to do – which at present, given the ongoing lockdown restrictions in the UK, is quite often. I expected to find the movie entertaining enough, but I presumed it would be fairly predictable.
I was wrong. Red Dot not only threw a plot-shaped curveball at me, proving it wasn’t as predictable as I thought, it was also more than ‘entertaining enough’ – I really liked it.
Red Dot is a good movie. It sets out its premise quite quickly, gets you invested in the situation, then shakes things up a little. Part of it plays out as expected, and part of it doesn’t.
At times the movie is brutal, and there are some gruesome scenes. While I class this as a revenge thriller, it does straddle the horror genre, so if you are planning on giving it a watch you should expect a good ol’ dose of blood and gore.
What you should also expect is fine performances from the cast (Nanna Blondell, Anastasios Soulis, Thomas Hanzon), a fairly tight story, and a good amount of tension. This is a thriller which plays the long game, and by the time you reach the film’s conclusion, you will come to realise that some of the movie’s lesser moments hold quite a bit of significance.
Red Dot is worth checking out, and is an ideal winter chiller. The movie is guaranteed to grab your interest early on, then will play with your emotions as you get more and more invested.
It is perfect late-night viewing, once the kids have gone to bed, and is also one to pair up with Below Zero – the Spanish crime thriller which I reviewed a couple of weeks back. The movies are not connected in any way, but if you wish to have a solid night (or weekend) of cinema, then go for this great double-bill and thank me later.
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