A multiverse-hopping tale of a mother’s search for revenge and redemption, Redux Redux is a smart, small-scale genre flick with a satisfyingly big emotional core.

Broken by the kidnap and murder of her teenage daughter, Irene Kelly (Michaela McManus) is skipping between parallel universes to exact bloody vengeance on the killer and to try to force him to disclose her child’s fate. Time and again, she executes the killer only to discover that her action settles nothing. Untethered and driven only by rage and grief, her mission is interrupted when she collides with another of his hostages, the volatile and wilful young runaway Mia (Stella Marcus). Their timelines entangled, Irene and her new surrogate daughter Mia become embroiled in the hunt for justice and solace.

Writer-director duo Kevin and Matthew McManus understand that the film stands or falls on the way the complex dynamic between Irene and Mia evolves through the shared jeopardy they face. The film is wholly uninterested in the sci-fi wherewithals of the multiverse or the workings of her transporter (a kind of knock-off steampunk coffin) – an approach which is genuinely refreshing. There are some assured action sequences (the opening nighttime vista will be difficult to forget), and there are plenty of bold directorial flourishes.

But it’s the shift in the pair’s relationship, from combative distrust to mutual dependence, that drives the drama. McManus is impressive throughout, while Marcus really starts to shine as the film progresses, and some of the sharper street-smart edges of her character’s identity are softened by her sense of wonder and regret. Unpredictable, explosive, and touching, this is powerful, affecting female-driven genre storytelling.

REDUX REDUX is released on major UK digital platforms on 23 February.