Red Rooms Review --A Dark Tale Of A Dark World-Award Winning Film -Vancouver International Film Festival ---

Every once in a while a movie comes out that is hard to put to words, not because it's hard to describe what happens in the film, but the fact of giving away too much of what happens in the film. 

I went into this film, knowing very little about it, other than watching the trailer and reading the synopsis.

There's a lot to be said of the less is more, certainly when it comes to a film where the subject matter is a  man who is on trial for the murders of three young women in Montreal, Canada.

Kelly-Anne(Juliette Gariepy) is obsessed with the trial and gets up early and sleeps outside of the courthouse to be one of the first in line, we, the viewers are not sure if it is the trial itself, or if she is there for the man who is on trial. There is no certainty, nothing is mentioned or suggested in any regard.

Oddly enough there is another young woman, Clementine(Laurie Babin-left) who is there daily to watch the trial. Kelly-Anne reluctantly accepts her into her world and even her home at a point in the film. 

Shockingly is that the murders were caught on tape and played live(for a price, like a PPV)for people to watch these terrible crimes live in their own homes. This is where less is needed in a film like this to make it watchable for those who don't enjoy horror movies, but the screams of the young women even turned my stomach.

This is really a movie more about a certain mood that is projected from the very often poker face of Kelly-Anne who is actually very good at online poker, oddly enough.

We are introduced to the crimes, via a scene in the courtroom at the very start of the film and shown who the young women were. Heartbreaking, even if this is just a fictional story because this happens in real life.

When she gets to the courthouse each day, she takes the same seat every day, emotionless, almost unaffected by the terrible crimes that are being retold to the jury each day. It's a film that deserves another viewing to get an idea of what I have really watched and it really has left me speechless in regards to being able to really explain the tone and mood of the film. Bravo to everyone involved, this is one of those films I won't soon forget.

From Variety Magazine July 30, 2023:

There was no escaping “Red Rooms” at Fantasia.

Awarded the Cheval Noir Award for best feature at the 27th edition of the fest, Pascal Plante’s film also took honors for screenplay and Dominique Plante’s haunting score, as well as an outstanding performance award for Juliette Gariépy.