Red Rooms - SIFF [2024]
Film
This film was viewed at the 50th Seattle International Film Festival
I was under the impression that after last year's triumphant Anatomy of a Fall I was more than prepared to weather the storm and enjoy another French courtroom procedural. Little did I know that Pascal Plante's Red Rooms would shake this confidence straight from my being. Plante's psychological thriller is a fucked up descent into pure, terrifying psychosis. Displaying the same cold, lack of empathy the serial killer at the center of the story emotes while also employing stomach-turning scenes of hidden violence, Red Rooms forces you to watch between shaky fingers and sweaty palms.
In a cold, plain, white-walled courtroom, the camera slowly pans across the members of the jury, prosecutors, defense, and judge alike while the prosecutor, in horrifying detail, lists the litany of crimes from Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos). As the camera finally makes its way to Chevalier, sitting apathetically, legs crossed, we see the giant glass box he resides in. A transparent cage for all to see through, mirroring his horrendous crimes of mutilating and dismembering young girls on camera, where voyeurs pay to watch the hellacious acts online. Much of what Plante accomplishes with Red Rooms is through the simple act of watching. Not only do Chevalier's crimes have a viewership, but the courtroom itself contains a section of viewers, including the victims' families and Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy), a tech-savvy model that's been drawn into the allure of the high-profile case. Every day, lines form around the courthouse hours before the trial begins, with Kelly-Anne going as far as sleeping in a nearby alley to ensure her spot at the front of the line. As if directly calling out the audience of his film, Plante asserts a belief that finding, dare I say, entertainment in watching such an egregious killer in court is not a normal hobby. Given the explosion of popularity in recent years with true-crime dramas, Plante's overt reflection of the audience feels incredibly daring. Am I feeding into the sensationalism of the crimes and criminal in question?
Red Rooms finds more substance under the skin of comfort by introducing Kelly-Anne to Clementine (Laurie Babin), a young woman who's traveled a lengthy distance to get an opportunity to see Chevalier in person because she believes, with her whole being, that he's being set-up. A victim of a deep conspiracy to pin the crimes on an innocent man, whose believed innocence makes him a romanticized object to Clementine. The mixture of sensationalism, including the blurred lines of the public perception of victim/perpetrator, creates a deeply unsettling atmosphere in the cold, dark world of Red Rooms. Gloomy lighting outside the courtroom, dripping with hues of blue, provides a stark contrast between the world outside the judicial system and the one within.
Kelly-Anne's cold demeanor and disconnect from social interactions, especially those with Clementine, work to deepen those dark concepts. When Kelly-Anne isn't modeling--which doesn't occupy much of her time--she's busy being the single most online person in the world. Her workouts are online videos, an AI personal assistant runs her life, every possible question is searched online, and she is obsessed with playing online poker, where she makes most of her money. A spotless, sanitary apartment devoid of any personality further highlights Kelly-Anne's possible, if not probable, sociopathic tendencies. Resulting in the development of Kelly-Anne and Clementine's relationship to drag at times, with a tug-and-pull between the two on Chevalier's theorized innocence. While the dialogue and exploration between the two differing personalities can be choppy at times, the climactic moment between the two is a spine-tingling, if not explosive, moment of horror and dread. It not only serves Plante's established themes effectively but serves as a launch point for a third act that will leave you wide-eyed in unencumbered horror. The careful insinuation of violence, with it only being mentioned and not being shown on screen to the audience, forces us to become the voyeurs once again, ingesting the true nature of Chevalier's crimes through Kelly-Anne's face and emotion.
Plante's meticulous direction is a tour de force on establishing the dread-infused atmosphere of Red Rooms, enhancing the terrifying story he's constructed. Gariépy's cold and calculated performance provides a sensational backbone for the themes on hand, culminating in a nauseating finale for which the film is named. It was rash of me to namedrop Anatomy of a Fall at the beginning of this because Red Rooms shares nothing in common with it other than the language and existence of a courtroom. Where Justine Triet's film is meant to provide a level of ambiguity, Plante's project could not be more clear. Going as far as to suggest that we, the audience, are complicit in the growing sensationalism of truly heinous, criminal actions. Making the self-reflection at the end of Red Rooms one of the most horrifying aspects of the psychological thriller.
Froth
Here's the deal. Pascal Plante's Red Rooms was the first film I watched for this year's Seattle International Film Festival and it severely ruined me. I was distraught. Not only was it an incredibly strong start to the festival, in terms of pure movie quality, but also in terms of how wild of a psychological thriller it was. The only appropriate pairing for a film like Red Rooms is something equally strong. Something to provide a little slap in the face, a little come back to reality slap if you know what I mean. Figurehead Brewing's Midwatch Belgian is a Belgian strong dark ale that packs that much needed wallop. It's boozy backbone is warming, while the roasted-malt and fruit forward flavors develop a delightfully well rounded profile that checks plenty of boxes for everything you'd want in a Belgian ale. Not to mention, the focus of plum and fig flavors give a really fun an unique fruitiness underneath the dark appearance.
Which I guess is kind of the opposite of Red Rooms which is completely devoid of any light fruitiness under its dark themes. But hey, you can't win them all? Just take a sip of the Midwatch whenever you find yourself sinking into the deep, dark corners of Plante's terrific film to stave off the scaries.
