It's not something that I've been particularly quiet about, but Simon Rumley's 2010 film Red, White & Blue is one of the most undervalued films of recent years. Nerve-shredding and punctuated by episodes of unthinkable physical brutality, the film is nevertheless much further from its slasher appearances than marketing might have you expect. Rumley is more concerned with a psychological brutality that's much slower to take root and much more damaging than any acts of tangible bloodletting. As an allegorical drama, it's far from complex, but what it lacks in subtlety it makes up for in sheer strength, and even then, this is exquisitely perceptive filmmaking, and a benchmark for applying the kind of visceral tactics used so exploitatively in B-movie thrillers to a work of genuine intelligence. The result is profoundly stirring. You'll definitely want to check out Richard Chester's beautiful score too.
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