Blood Red Sky Review: Netflix’s Genre-Blending Thriller Is Flawed But Fun

The Netflix original movie Blood Red Sky is unique, taking two distinct sub-genres and fusing them together, creating something not quite new — but at least entertaining — in the process. This is an imperfect film; yet, despite its flaws, Blood Red Sky is a captivating movie that fully embraces its premise. It blends action-thriller suspense with pure, supernatural horror and, although it never quite rises above the formulas of either genre, Blood Red Sky is still fun to watch.

Blood Red Sky begins with the kind of basic action-thriller plot one would expect to find in a made-for-TV-movie. In fact, much of the tone and approach to Blood Red Sky does have somewhat of a television feel. The action begins right away, with very little time spent on exposition or credits. The direction reveals a lot of information about the characters and plot through visual cues: the precocious boy who’s learned how to take care of his sick mother, the implications that he and his mom are traveling abroad for experimental medical treatment, and the hints that something’s not quite right with this flight once the main characters board. What could otherwise be seen as a run-of-the-mill action-thriller gets a welcome shot of adrenaline from its supernatural twist: the mother isn’t sick — she’s a vampire! — and she’s about to do whatever it takes to save her son from dangerous hijackers, even if that means finally embracing the inner monstrosity she’s been fighting back for years.

Blood Red Sky, which is also known as Transatlantic 473, is a German film directed by Peter Thorwarth and co-written by Thorwarth and Stefan Holtz. Peri Baumeister stars as the mother, Nadja. Her son, Elias, is played by Chidi Ajufo. Once it becomes clear that Elias’ life is in danger, Nadja taps into her inner evil, her physical appearance becoming increasingly monstrous as she loses more and more of her humanity (interestingly, her design seems to be heavily inspired by the iconic 1922 German film Nosferatu). Elias is in the opposite position of having to try and protect his mother, and the passengers, from each other — all while avoiding the attention of the hijackers.

The two have strong onscreen chemistry, and their changing dynamic throughout the film is a clear highlight. Unfortunately, the English dub robs the performances of their nuance — this is a movie best watched in the original German with English subtitles. Many of the other characters speak English anyways — making the switches to English dub that much more obvious (and unnatural sounding). Setting Blood Red Sky on a plane was a smart choice, as the restricted feel adds to the movie’s overall tension. The reason for the hijacking is never explicitly clear — it has to do with a robbery made to look like a terrorist attack, with passengers speculating that it’s a political move or an attempt to sway the stock market.

Ultimately, the villains’ motivation doesn’t really matter as their function is to be the antagonists Nadja must defeat, using increasing violence. As the movie progresses, it never loses the underlying action-thriller premise, but it does lean more into the horror elements, including aspects of the zombie subgenre. Interestingly, one of the main conflicts is the danger Nadja poses to the outside world and unless she’s careful, she could inadvertently infect others, creating an outbreak on an apocalyptic scale. The first half of Blood Red Sky is thrilling, particularly after Nadja’s initial transformation. There are still some problems — the flashback scenes are at times painfully saccharine, and the few jump-scares lack the necessary intensity to be genuinely frightening — yet, there’s enough exciting content to balance out the flaws.

The sadistic Eightball (Alexander Scheer) chews the scenery, injecting every scene he’s in with a manic energy that perfectly compliments the over-the-top plot. However, even the best aspects of the movie plateau in the second half. At just over two hours in runtime, Blood Red Sky feels overly long, and the lulls in pacing are where the faults become glaring and hard to ignore. Many of the characters are underdeveloped stereotypes and that makes their arcs stagnant by the final act. Blood Red Sky starts strong but doesn’t maintain momentum. Still, it’s a delightful B-movie and one that has the potential to develop a cult following.

Blood Red Sky is now streaming on Netflix. It is 121 minutes long and is rated TV-MA for violence and gore, profanity, drug use, and frightening and intense scenes.

About The Author

Sarah Bea Milner
(333 Articles Published)

Sarah Milner is the Weekend Lead Editor for Screen Rant’s Film/Television features (SR Originals) division. She is a writer, editor, and folk musician. She often watches movies — sometimes she reviews them too.

A graduate of Trent University, Sarah’s MA thesis examines Frankenstein adaptations and their relationship with popular culture. She has a fierce love of all things “spooky,” and a deep appreciation for classic cinema.

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