Red Rooms: Film Review
There are unlikeable lead characters and then there are absolutely sick and twisted ones. Kelly-Anne in Red Rooms definitely falls into the latter category.
The Montreal-set psychological thriller opens with the trial of Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos), aka the Demon of Rosemont, who stands accused of torturing and murdering three young girls while streaming live on the dark web. Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy), a model and professional poker player, attends the trial every day. But why?
Red Rooms is a slow burner that doesn’t show its hand for a long time. It begins as a courtroom drama and simply follows our lead character as she goes about her life. Kelly-Anne remains unknowable to us for ages – why is she there? What is her connection to the trial? She befriends a groupie named Clementine (Laurie Babin) who makes her feelings for Chevalier clear and protests his innocence but Kelly-Anne doesn’t vocalise her position. Does she think he did it? What is her morbid fascination with this serial killer? So many questions!
There is a pivotal moment where Kelly-Anne shows her true colours and intentions. This is when the slow-burn pays off and the story becomes more unhinged and disturbing. You don’t see much violence or visuals relating to the girls’ deaths but you don’t have to – Kelly-Anne’s actions are horrifying on their own. The narrative goes to extremes you’d never expect and holds a mirror up to society’s obsession with true crime.
Directed by Pascal Plante, this bleak and nihilistic French-Canadian film sticks with you for hours after the credits roll.
In cinemas from Friday 6th September