The Red Mask (2025) by Ritesh Gupta

Director: Ritesh Gupta

Year: 2025

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Slasher

Plot:

Tasked with writing a legacy sequel, a writer trying to get past the comments and criticism of the occasion to get working on her story encounters several fans of the main series mistakenly arriving after double-booking the event, forcing her to rewrite the story with their input and enthusiasm.

Review:

This was a massively fun and clever variation on the genre. That this one turns into a meta-horror adaptation of a slasher film, with the premise being a struggling writer tasked with reviving a popular franchise from the past and being inundated with hate comments and messages about her working on the property as she writes, gives this the kind of intriguing launching pad to work with. Seeing the way the mindset works as she tries role-playing possible scenarios to understand what’s going on in her story and getting a glimpse into the creative process during this, as they discuss not just the events in question and how it’s going to impact their relationship, but also how it all helps the story she’s writing.

When the strangers arrive and start directing everything into a recreation of the story to help her screenplay, this becomes an immensely strong and enjoyable slasher that features quite a lot to like. With some fun meta-commentary on the nature of enjoying problematic genre material from a bygone era against more enlightened sensibilities that the genre is faced with as a whole, before turning into a genuinely enjoyable series of stalking scenes where the interplay between everyone is full of solid twists and fun brawls that come together incredibly well. There are some issues to be said here for how long it takes before that starts up, but beyond that, there’s not much else to dislike here.

Overview: ****/5

A generally fun inversion of the genre, this is a rather fun time that keeps it rather exciting and likable, even with a few minor areas that do hold it down slightly. Those with an appreciation for this kind of genre fare, who are intrigued by the concept, or just enjoy slasher films like this, will have a lot to like, while most others out there might want to heed caution.