The opening of Red Riding, and indeed the first act, may raise certain expectations in the viewer. The title, as well as an anecdote from a character, suggests that you are in for a particular type of film with various visual cues supporting this expectation, including artwork, a scientific explanation that sounds like a harbinger, and news of a mysterious relative. Yet other aspects suggest a different film, including a small flat on a council estate, a blaring smoke alarm and drugs. From this intriguing opening, director Craig Conway crafts a horror tale that is eerie and dreamlike, while also being visceral and grounded.
Our protagonist, Redele, known as Red (Victoria Tait) is quickly introduced as a troubled teen who has had to grow up too fast. Her drug-addicted mother, Scarlet (Sam Banks-Copping), needs care yet offers no signs of changing and she quickly leaves Red with little recourse except to travel to the estate of her grandmother, Penelope (Lynsey Beauchamp), in Scotland. Red’s journey is a familiar opening trope for horror, further raising expectations. As might be expected, this estate, Penelope and the domestic staff of Malcolm (Bill Fellows) and Mary (Jenny Quinn), are a bit weird, indeed, their arch politeness and formal treatment of Red quickly prove unsettling. Attempting to settle in, Red is plagued by nightmares, learns of weird disappearances in the area, and seeks solace in medication, despite insistences that she is nothing like her mother.
CLICK THE POSTER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR MORE ON RED RIDING AND GLASGOW FRIGHTFEST 2026
The film is unsubtle in its hints, including a school called Greypelt Academy where a ballet class rehearse The Dance of the Wolf. However, despite the remote location and similar references, the surroundings Red encounters are not as ye olde as they could have been. Penelope’s estate is more modern stately home than gothic castle, with recent extensions that seem at odds with the surrounding misty forests. The Greypelt Arms pub is similarly modern, reminiscent of Wetherspoons rather than the Slaughtered Lamb. The locals, while reserved and secretive, are not eccentric. Indeed, Red’s encounters with Ewan (Michael Tominey) and Martin (Thomas Mugglestone) feel like connections to normalcy, as does an initial encounter with Thomas (Ian Whyte), despite him being a man living in the woods. The reason these people feel somewhat regular is the overt peculiarity of Penelope and her staff, which makes the later plot developments both shocking and disturbing. Furthermore, Red’s displacement is enhanced by the gorgeous Inverness locations.
Much like Red’s experiences, the film is a strange mixture of elements. Sometimes these work, especially sequences that blur the distinction between dreams and wakefulness. Other points in the film feel underpowered, with Conway seemingly unwilling to lean into particular aspects. The mystery of the town is explained quickly, and while the explanation is deliberately unsatisfactory, more lore could have fuelled the eerie atmosphere beyond Red seeing people and animals in her dreams (or does she?).
When Conway does lean into key aspects, the film becomes distressing and wince-inducingly visceral. There are moments of blood tasting that recall Saltburn, several instances of gory death, and perhaps most importantly, graphic displays of physical abuse and subsequent injury that come with a genuine sense of pain. One of the most effective tropes in horror is the human scream, as this generates empathy for the victim and victimhood is, arguably, the essential aspect of horror. Screams in Red Riding are heart wrenching and followed by clear effects, while the oppressive atmosphere is at times reminiscent of Get Out. All combine to produce an experience that is at times deeply uncomfortable.
The discomfort highlights the film’s successful blending of real life domesticity and familial horrors with more outlandish and melodramatic tendencies. There are some plot conveniences, especially in the form of Chekhov’s guns (and knife), and instances that tie things up a bit too neatly, but overall Red Riding is an effectively horrible journey into the spaces between civility and savagery. As the tagline says, this is no fairy tale.
RED RIDING HAD ITS WORLD PREMIERE AT GLASGOW FRIGHTFEST 2026
