Movie Breakdown: Blood Red Sky

Pre-Screening Stance:

Blood Red Sky very much looks like the sort of genre fare I’d catch around midnight at a film festival and then either be very entertained or immediately put to sleep. Let’s see which it is!

Post-Screening Ramble:

Blood Red Sky turned out to be what I was hoping it would – a little low rent, but very enterprising. The film largely takes place on a transatlantic flight and is centered around a boy, Elias (Carl Anton Koch), and his mother, Nadja (Peri Baumeiste). Additionally, there’s some determined terrorists (they hijack the plane right after take off) and Nadja’s deep dark secret, which results in some crazy stuff when she’s forced to protect Elias.

I have yet to convince myself that Blood Red Sky needed to be two hours long, but I will say that director Peter Thorwarth does a pretty good job of constantly escalating the wild situation on the plane. A lesser director would have likely let the film flat-line after Nadja’s undisclosed condition becomes known by the terrorists and passengers, but Thorwarth uses it to his advantage by constantly doubling down on it. In other words, one monster becomes many, and that means blood everywhere and a ton of “oh shit!” moments.

Ultimately, there aren’t any big time performances here to hang on or one particular thing that you have to see, but Blood Red Sky does have a fun concept and it’s solidly executed. So, why not give it your time when it hits Netflix this Friday, July 23.

One Last Thought:

Do not watch the dubbed version of this movie. For whatever reason, I gave it a go for the first five minutes or so and I couldn’t stand it – the boy in particular sounds as though his lines were recorded by a child pretending to be a child. It’s so weird and off-putting.