Red Rooms
September 20 - 26, 2024
In this unnerving psychological thriller from Pascal Plante (Fake Tattoos, SIFF 2017), a Montreal-based model becomes obsessed with a high-profile serial killer trial. As the terrible details of the case infect her every waking moment, she finds herself on a road toward destruction.
Director Pascal Plante’s cyber-thriller Red Rooms takes courtroom drama to new places, edging into the realm of psychological horror. Enigmatic Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) lives in a luxury apartment in Montréal and holds a successful career as a model and high-stakes video poker player. She is the first to show up at the courtroom every day for the trial of the man dubbed “The Demon of Rosemont,” Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos). Chevalier is accused of torturing, killing, and dismembering three young girls in “red rooms,” where snuff films are livestreamed on the dark web. The plot transgresses from gripping courtroom drama to nail-biting thriller as Kelly-Anne goes down the rabbit hole into the dark online world where millions of dollars in cryptocurrency is at stake in securing the videos which can uncover the truths about the horrors which had befallen the schoolgirls. Though sharing tonal echoes with Michael Haneke’s Funny Games and David Slade’s Hard Candy, Red Rooms shows very little actual violence. Plante (Fake Tattoos, SIFF 2018) builds suspense through mastery of the camera and through pulling in a pitch-perfect score. Juliette Gariépy’s performance is powerful as the cold and unreadable Kelly-Anne, who leaves us guessing through plot twists until the ultimate climax of the film, when we can finally let out our breath.
- Original Language Title: Les Chambres Rouges
- Director: Pascal Plante
- Principal Cast: Juliette Gariépy, Laurie Babin, Elisabeth Locas, Maxwell McCabe-Lokos
- Country: Canada (Québec)
- Year: 2023
- Running Time: 118 min.
- Producer: Dominique Dussault
- Screenplay: Pascal Plante
- Cinematographers: Vincent Biron
- Editors: Jonah Malak
- Music: Dominique Plante
- Awards: Fantasia Film Festival 2023 (Best Film, Screenplay, Score, Outstanding Performance)
- Filmography: Nadia, Butterfly (2020), Fake Tattoos (2017)
- Language: French, English
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- US Distributor: Utopia Distribution
- International Sales: H264 Distribution