Written and Directed by: Navin Dev
The opposite of love is not hate, but rather
ambivalence. This contrast is never felt
more than when trying to review a film that somehow elicits nothing but
passionless ambivalence from the reviewer.
Film reviews should be filled with strong reactions. After sitting with Red Kingdom Rising for a full month, and watching it multiple
times, the strongest reaction I can muster is apathy.
Red Kingdom Rising
starts out with a promising torture scene.
Our main character, Mary Ann (Emily Stride) comes to and is pinned to
the ground by tree roots. A faceless red
knight is feeling her abdomen, when he plunges his fist in removes a
nondescript fleshy mass. Is it a
horrifying abortion allegory or was
there something else living inside of her?
These are the sorts of things that would have been much more interesting
than having this simply be a spooky scene to set the mood for what is ultimately
a non-spooky movie.
Mary Ann has been having these nightmares because she is
preparing herself to go to her childhood home for the first time in quite some
time. It is clear that she had a traumatic
incident that drove her away, which is eventually revealed by the end of the
film. In seeking closure, she decides to
return home one last time.
As she immerses herself in her hallowed house, and attempts
to communicate with her shutout mother (who unfortunately resembles the
decidedly not-scary Marjorie the trash heap from Fraggle Rock), her past comes back to haunt her and she merges her
upsetting flashbacks with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Her father both read her that book, and
abused her as a child, and the combination of those two worlds is the intended
horror of this film.
The bulk of the film’s short running time is taken up by
partially developed allusions to the Lewis Carroll classic. I was intrigued by the potential for fantasy
horror by borrowing from Alice. After
all, much of the book itself is actually terrifying (not to mention that Carol
Channing’s White Queen in 1985’s Alice in
Wonderland was one of the most terrifying things in my childhood). Perhaps due to budget constraints, if not a
lack of imagination, Mary Ann’s experiences are mostly limited to her
encounters with the young Alice, who is very clearly the projection of her
childhood memories. Mary Ann and Alice dodge
around their version of the wonderland, either running away from or towards
Mary Ann’s memories.
Though the plot of weak and predictable, there are certain redeeming
qualities to Red Kingdom Rising. Stride’s performance as the relatable and at
times confused Mary Ann is well done.
Often we can relate to her disorientation within the film, but she also
is able to drive the action when she is attempting to control her memories.
Director Dev’s attempt at creating a slow burning horror
film comes across as a terribly unevenly paced film. But ultimately some actual things do happen, and you
care enough for Mary Ann to see what happens at the end of it all. I don’t feel like watching the film was necessarily
a waste of time, but I cannot offer a stronger reaction than that. I suppose that fans of Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland will enjoy all of the textual references, but that may be the only
way to feel any response for Red Kingdom
Rising.
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