The title may seem paradoxical for a film shot in strict black and white, but it isn’t. It works as a small wink to the viewer, pointing out where their attention should lie. What matters here is more what is hidden than what is shown, something truly surprising for a debut feature. And this is not the only surprise the film offers; it presents itself as modest but gradually reveals an astonishing depth as it unfolds.

The long, deliberate shots follow the rhythm of the works and days in an interurban area of the Czech Republic, where a slow, methodical character goes about what seem to be routine tasks that always feel like something more. Little by little, routine gives way to the extraordinary and, inevitably, tragedy appears: the tragedy of a country, of a life. This is revealed in the opening scene, where a camera at the eye level of a pig captures its last minutes before being slaughtered and butchered. The blood-red of the title is implied rather than seen. And although the pulsing of the autofocus occasionally betrays the minimal, individual nature of the production, this iPhone-shot project is anything but improvised.

The narrative also advances through hints, many of them suggested by framing and sound. In this sense, the sparse use of music is not a sign of austerity but of precision. Silence can tell a story just as effectively, if not more. The same goes for the apparent “lack” of characters, which ceases to be a lack if we consider the animals as characters, in the spirit of Kusturica’s films or perhaps more precisely those of Béla Tarr. The fact that silence functions as yet another character connects it more closely to the latter.

Indeed, the involvement of Béla Tarr himself as script supervisor appears crucial, though it does not explain everything. If one remains captivated throughout, it is not because the Hungarian filmmaker “laid a hand” on the project, but because the director knew how to listen and blend that wisdom with material filmed with remarkable care. This is not a Tarr film, nor an imitation of his style. It is something else. A profound, unsettling, beautiful first feature, one that truly knows how to see and listen, and that deserves to be seen and heard, especially in our region and in our time.