After reviewing their latest feature, Redux Redux, it was great to get to catch up with directors The McManus brothers – Kevin and Matthew. I’ve been very interested to see where they would go next after their first horror feature, The Block Island Sound, hit Fantasia Fest a few years ago. Since then, there’s been some TV series work, but it’s been back to writing and directing a genre feature with Redux Redux – and it’s good to have them back. The brothers were kind enough to agree to answer a few of my questions – many thanks to both!
WP: Okay! The Block Island Sound (2020) was your first horror feature – accepting there are other genre features in there, too. What first drew you to this story, and to this genre? Similarly, although there are also elements of other genres in your most recent film Redux Redux (2025), there’s undoubtedly horror throughout – so what has made you stick with the scares and the darker aspects of fantasy?
MB: I think there are two kinds of kids: Christmas kids and Halloween kids. We were firmly in the Halloween camp growing up. When we first picked up a camera when we were eleven, the first movies we shot were scary movies, and even before that we’d organize sprawling haunted houses for all the neighborhood kids. So I think the horror genre has always been a part of who we are. It’s what we watch, it’s what we dream up, and it’s what we love.
WP: You’ve made two features which could, respectively, be classed as eco-horror, and multiverse horror – which are both indisputably hot subgenres right now with a number of recent titles. What drew you more specifically to these?
MB: We just like to wait for a genre to be completely over saturated before we go in and beat a dead horse! With Redux Redux, we wanted to make a multiverse movie where the story was small, and the multiverse was very familiar. If there are an infinite amount of universes out there, then the differences between so many of them would be infinitely small. It was a real desire to ground a multiverse story as much as possible, and see what kind of story could come out of that approach.
WP: You both write and direct as The McManus Brothers and your sister, Michaela, has also appeared in both The Block Island Sound and Redux Redux. Two questions about this: do you ever think you’d be tempted to act in one of your films? And secondly – are you keen to keep on working together as a team? What works well in this creative relationship?
MB: We’ve been making movies together since we were all kids. Michaela was in our first movie when we were maybe 11 and she would have been 15. It was called “A Blood Thirsty Killer” and it probably got more laughs than jump scares, but we never looked back. We used to act a bunch, but haven’t in a while. We both make cameos in Redux Redux and sometimes flirt with the idea of acting again, but it’d have to make sense. Maybe something about twins… or clones… or doppelgangers?
WP: Do you feel your writing and directing has been influenced by other directors – or titles? Or do your own ideas come from somewhere else entirely?
MB: Oh for sure. We’re all just trying to do our best impressions of other better writers and directors– Carpenter, Cameron, the Coen Brothers. The Terminator has been at the top of our minds lately and been sort of a north star. It’s such a blast with great character moments and exciting sci-fi lore that doesn’t get too lost in the weeds.
WP: Redux Redux, your new film, recently appeared at the prestigious SXSW Film Festival. What was that experience like? And how mindful are you of things like critical reception?
MB: SXSW is such a special place for us. It’s where our first movie premiered and it jumpstarted our whole careers. We owe SX and Peter Hall everything for discovering us and giving us a platform. This past festival was the first time we’ve been back with a film since our first back in 2012, so it felt like a real full circle moment, and we couldn’t have been happier being back in Austin.
WP: Last question for the moment: now that some of the dust has settled, what are you personally proudest of in Redux Redux?
MB: Seeing Michaela absolutely crush this role. She’s the best actress I’ve ever met, and seeing her on the big screen and just grab the audience was a thrill. There are moments where she’s just as badass as Sarah Connor and others where she’d have the audience in tears. She’s such a special talent and we feel so lucky to have gotten to make this film with her.
Watch this space for further information regarding a Redux Redux release!