150 Word Review: 'Red Rooms' (2024)
Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Serial killers like Ted Bundy attracted women drawn to their dark, violent personas. The fascination with monsters is rooted in taboo.
In Red Rooms, morbid voyeur Kelly-Anne briefly catches the eye of an accused killer sitting inside a plexiglass cage during his trial in Quebec, a haunted man who, according to the prosecution, tortured and butchered teen girls in "red rooms" where he filmed the murders for paying audiences online.
Director Pascal Plante's French-language thriller is an intense look at how 'true crime' obsession can distort reality. Juliette Gariépy is intimidating as Kelly-Anne a model/hacker/amateur sleuth who mentors a younger fan played by Laurie Babin. The pair sleep outside the courthouse, so they're first in line. They discuss the evidence and consider the defendant's innocence. When Babin's doe-eyed crusader learns Kelly-Ann has an illegal copy of the internet snuff film, she's indignant. Show me, please! How far is too far?
It's a masterpiece of subtly, and the protagonist is one of the best puzzles of the year.