Red Dot movie review

MOVIE TITLE: RED DOT

This movie premieres globally on NETFLIX on February 11, 2021.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

Netflix just earned 42 Golden Globe nominations last week for some of the incredible movies they have been offering during the pandemic. Thanks to them, we have had plenty to watch during the quarantine. Yay! Three cheers for Netflix. Plus, another cheer for them because they sent me a screener to preview. I promise no spoilers in this review.

Red Dot is an action thriller made in Sweden about a young, bi-racial couple struggling in their marriage. To rekindle their relationship, they decide to take a few days to hike in the beautiful Swedish mountains with the hope of seeing the famous Northern Lights. (That’s been on my Bucket List for years!) That sounds like a romantic drama, but the movie quickly turns into a horror of sorts when some crazy guys start hunting them down with the red dots on their rifles. EEK!

The survival thriller offers mystery and a thought-provoking twist, written and directed by Alain Darborg with some writing help by Per Dickson.

If this film is well received, you can bet Netflix will continue to bring us more international movies.

THINGS I LIKED:

The opening scene is powerful with intriguing sound effects and the one statement that is made by a bloodied man with tears running down his face. Even though that supposed ending is given away at the beginning of the film, you feel compelled to keep watching because you want to know how the couple got to that point and what might happen after that reveal.
It’s beautiful to look at the Swedish countryside.
You think you’re watching an action survival movie, but it suddenly changes on a dime. There’s a twist that instantly takes the movie to a whole new level.
It’s super suspenseful when you see the first red dot appear because you don’t know where it’s coming from and who is at the other end of the weapon.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

I love survival thrillers but was starting to get a little bit bored after the first hour. Then, all of my preconceived ideas of where I thought this movie was going were instantly challenged. If you start to look at the clock, keep watching!
It’s distracting that the mouths don’t line up well with the audio and video, although that’s expected in dubbed films. As an American, I know that a lot of other American movie viewers often feel lazy and don’t like having to read subtitles while watching movies. I wonder how much that had to do with Netflix’s decision to use dubbing instead. It’ll be interesting to see what feedback they get for this film and how they decide to handle international films in the future.
Some bad editing moments.
Some pretty unbelievable moments.