Review of Redlands

A truly unique film with some of the best, and most subtle (!) dialogue and plot development I've seen since… Well, I won't date myself. The film is beautifully photographed, and its long takes, with tension and anxiety constantly building in each scene, blew me away.

The actors include America's Next Top Model winner Nicole Fox, playing a beautiful amateur nude model, Sam Brittan as her d-bag indie-musician-hat-wearing-beard-growing boyfriend, and Clifford Morts as an eccentric-or-strange photographer who gets close to the duo. If this reminds you of the setup for a Patricia Highsmith movie or book, you wouldn't be wrong, and I think Highsmith must figure as one of director John King's influences.

I think this is just one of those movies that you'll either love or hate. If you're like me, and you like movies that explore what cinema can be, movies that even make you uncomfortable, and movies that REFUSE to be Hollywood clichés, this one might be for you. Another reviewer said Redlands was "Hard to watch, Harder to turn away from..." & I have to agree with him, in all the best ways.

I watched the film through Vimeo on Demand, and it worked well for me.