Review: Red Rooms

Official Synopsis: A model, Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) becomes obsessed with a high-profile murder trial.

I think I have a bit of "not like other girls" syndrome when it comes to true crime. I consume a decent amount of it, whether it be documentaries or youtube. But I'm not one of THOSE, right? I don't watch creators who do their makeup while talking about someone's death. I skip episodes that talk about torture in explicit detail. I'm just drawn to mysteries, so I'm not that bad, RIGHT?

Red Rooms has made me completely evaluate how (or if) I want to consume true crime in the future. Even days later, I cannot stop thinking about this film. It's easily one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen, and there's not a drop of violence in it. Thankfully, writer/director Pascal Plante spares us from actually seeing the crimes committed in this film. During the opening scene, a prosecutor summarizes them. At one point, a video is played for the jury, and we briefly hear the screams of the victims. That's scary enough.

Kelly Anne is an enigma. We don't really know why she's attending this trial, unlike her eventual companion Clementine (Laurie Babin) who is essentially a groupie for the serial killer. Kelly Anne immediately judges Clementine, and viewers will do. But the more time we spend with Kelly Anne, the more puzzling she becomes. How the trial is going to go is never the mystery, SHE'S the mystery, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time watching her.

At one point, the mother of the youngest victim calls everyone coming to the trial who is not family or press "obscene" and that's the film's tagline. "We see you, and you're obscene!" That line really stuck with me. Something Clementine says later on did too. That I will not spoil. Everyone who isn't involved is an outsider, and Kelly Anne is framed as much. She's practically lurking in some of the shots. It's incredible filmmaking, and I'm surprised this film went so under the radar on the festival circuit last year. Had one of my letterboxd friends not logged it, I don't know when I would've eventually stumbled upon it. 

I have one complaint about this film, and it's one I wouldn't normally make...but sometimes I do like to be spoon fed an explanation. This is a film that I would say uses ambiguity better than most, but sometimes I just want a straight answer. Maybe it's because I've been thinking about this film nonstop all week, and have been all over the internet reading theories. 

Damn, just tell me.

Grade: A