Film Review: Unsettling ‘Red White & Blue’ Creeps Under the Skin

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CHICAGO – “Red White & Blue” is a deviously effective horror film precisely because it doesn’t appear to be one. There are subtle stylistic hints here and there, but nothing that truly signals the horrors to come. They emerge not from left field, but out of the character’s own pent up rage, and their increasing desire to inflict pain upon the world that has failed them.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

It’s sort of refreshing to see a film that shocks the senses, particularly at a time when most moviegoers have become desensitized to even the most extreme acts of violence. Many potentially disturbing pictures are layered in enough camp to make the audience feel safely detached from the material. “The Human Centipede” has a spectacularly unsettling premise, but its execution was broad and more than a little silly. For midnight movie junkies, the film may be categorized as “fun.” Yet there is nothing fun about the final act of “Red White & Blue,” which delves into depravity worthy of “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.”

Read Matt Fagerholm’s full review of “Red White and Blue” in our reviews section.

The film is divided into three parts, each centering on a character who is simultaneously a victim and a predator. Erica (Amanda Fuller) is a nymphomaniac with deep emotional scars. She spends her aimless days seducing men into bed before promptly disappearing from their lives. Her behavior is not far removed from that of a prostitute, but Erica is not motivated by money. She sleeps with guys whom she doesn’t respect, which may explain why she refuses to bed Nate (Noah Taylor), an Iraq war vet whose gaunt face and wide, haunted eyes have a knack for conveying the unspeakable. There’s something creepy about Nate right from the get-go, but Erica gradually befriends him, attracted to his shy demeanor. Fuller is very touching in these scenes, nailing the desperation and repressed yearning of a woman inching toward what may be the first meaningful connection in her life. The actress is so magnetic that the film suffers whenever she’s offscreen.

Continue reading for Matt Fagerholm’s full “Red White and Blue” review.

Amanda Fuller and Noah Taylor star in Simon Rumley’s Red White and Blue.
Photo credit: IFC Films