Clay's Redemption [2020] Review: A messy, repetitive Midnight movie that fizzles out even before it kicks off!

When the first criticism one can have about a film is its lack of expositions, you can understand just how bad it could be. Carlos Boellinger’s midnight movie would have been a banger had it any idea where to start and where to end things. It does not. It has no iota of regret for leaving the audience astray, i.e even if you manage to sit through it – which I highly doubt you will, you understand nothing about what’s going on. Clay’s Redemption has zero redeeming qualities and this supposed homage to the 70s anti-heroes doesn’t work.

The movie begins with a sort of introduction to the world we are about to notice. There are totally random references dropped about Gods and Demons right before we are made aware of the entities known as ‘Sleeve Walkers.’ They are people who can move from bodies to bodies enforcing the wills of the Gods who rule the world. There’s also a war going on between the two ends which is hardly explained or attempted to explain.

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The lo-fi noir world that director Carlos Boellinger conjures is a replicant of Blade Runner with its neon-lit streets and slightly immersive visuals. Clay (Akie Kotabe) – an ex-convict has been promised an EXIT if he manages to take through a package (a mute girl with incredible power) along. Also, tagging along are totally random, hyper-real characters somehow connected to Johnson ( Joe Wredden) who is a God or I suppose he is.

The fact that this precious cargo is to be transported somewhere or to someone is also unclear. So are the character motivation, their reasons to partake in this part and parcel, and almost anything else that happens in this lazily written, pompous, and veil mess. The acting is hammy, the action is unclear and the reasons for the film’s existence dawns on you with every passing second.

Clay’s Redemption would only make sense to someone who doesn’t want to indulge in the film. That is if it plays on your telly in the living room while you take a giant dump in your bathroom meters away. There’s a lot of walking in the film. I mean, a lot. Characters walk on the expansive, well-shot streets of Soho, Bloomsbury, and Covent Garden, seeming as lost as the film itself.

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Since this is a mess from the start – via a few explanatory words before the film starts, we know absolutely nothing about the film. References to the good and the evil are made and we are supposed to take the film as a replication of a lo-fi noir world right within the realms of believability. The only good thing about the film is it’s shot well for a low-budget B-movie. That aside, Clay’s Redemption is not just hard to sit through (even for a Midnight movie) but also dull, uninspired, and ridiculously unengaging. I wish I had something good to say about this but I don’t.