The Red King review – like a wickedly playful new spin on The Wicker Man

Anjli Mohindra is marvellous as a cop shunted off to a remote island, only to find a strange lawless land full of pagan – possibly satanic – rituals. Then a body turns up and all bets are off

Folk-horror film touchstone The Wicker Man celebrated its 50th birthday last year, presumably by not blowing out a candle with a tiny human sacrifice trapped inside. Alibi’s wickedly playful island psychodrama The Red King feels like a belated part of the anniversary revels. It pays the ultimate Wicker Man tribute by harvesting the premise wholesale.

Again, we have an uptight copper gatecrashing a remote isle where the old ways still hold sway. There are locals parading in creepy rustic masks, a self-possessed aristocrat lording over everything and, crucially, a missing child no one seems that fussed about finding.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/9a0xYhf

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