Red Letter Day (2019) Review
By Jesse Miller
In a new sunny new estate, people are waking up on a glorious, gorgeous day to find a red letter in their mail. The contents within reveal the identity of someone they know and instructs them to kill this person, as they have received the other person’s identity and will certainly try to kill them.
So begins Writer/Director Cameron Macgowan’s social thriller RED LETTER DAY, a brisk 75-minute affair that feels like a melding of The Twilight Zone and The Purge and with all the violence and thoughtful themes those two are known for.
Being 75 minutes, it’s also all-thriller, no filler, cutting to the bone (quite literally in cases) and telling a neat little tale with all the intrigue and mystery as 2003’s little thriller Phone Booth.
The film follows Melanie, Madison and Tim Edwards, played by Dawn Van de Schoot, Hailey Floss and Kaeleb Zain Gartner, who have recently moved into their new estate and who we follow throughout the events of the film. Given its from their perspective as chaos unfolds, it helps that the establishing scenes of this modern family feel genuine, thanks to their naturalistic performances.
I was impressed by the visual style of the film – everything on display looks and feels cinematic, bolstered by a musical score that darkly builds upon its sunny themes established early on before the chaos unfolds. It sounds great and wonderfully imbues tension.
Boasting some effective gore and running with an undercurrent of dark humor, Red Letter Day doesn’t waste a single moment of its running time as it delves into some timeless themes to tell a tight, self-contained little story with bite.
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