BOTTOM LINE
Slick Courtroom Drama on Crime Obsession
PLATFORM
Amazon Prime Video
RUNTIME
1h 58 min
What Is the Film About?
In Montreal, three teenage girls, Kim, Justine, and Camille, are brutally killed. Ludovic Chevalier, the alleged criminal, is accused of broadcasting their murders in a Red Room, a chat space on the dark web where viewers pay to watch the crime. Two women with no relation to the incident, Kelly Anne and Clementine, forge an unlikely bond, developing a strange obsession with the high-profile case.
Performances
Given that the film revolves mostly around two characters, Juliette Gariépy (Kelly Anne) and Laurie Babin (Clementine), naturally hog the limelight. Juliette gets the more challenging part and excels, keeping audiences guessing about Anne’s next move while she grapples with twists in her own life, intertwined with the case.
As a girl wearing her heart on her sleeve, Babin communicates Clementine’s intent transparently, leaving no room for ambiguity. Elisabeth Locas, in the straightforward role of a traumatised mother, delivers a neat performance. Except for a few situations, Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, as the accused, is compelled to keep his emotions in check, deepening the viewer’s mystery.
Analysis
Red Rooms (originally released as Les Chambres Rouges) is a critically acclaimed French film, which, after an extensive run at the festival circuit, is streaming on multiple OTT platforms (Amazon Prime, BMS Stream) under the pay-per-view model. Written and directed by Pascal Plante, the film is a courtroom drama centred on the obsession of two women with a high-profile murder case.
The narrative initially proceeds like any courtroom saga (except that it isn’t one), offering all the basic details needed to follow the case. The chilling murders of the three school-going girls are described in graphic detail, instantly attracting massive public attention. Two videos of the crime, released on the dark web, are not quite enough to prove that Chevalier, the accused, is definitely the killer.
However, the film is equally a study of the two unaffiliated women. The sensational incident so consumes Kelly Anne, a model and tech-freak, and the younger Clementine that they sit through the proceedings with rapt attention. While Clementine believes Chevalier might be innocent, Kelly Anne keeps her true intentions entirely under wraps.
The lens through which the storyteller explores the case is compelling: it unfolds as an implicit satire on the voyeuristic viewer, one who attaches an inflated sense of importance to the proceedings. The focus is entirely on their obsession to be part of the media circus, their need to form a firm opinion, and their desire to add spice to a largely ordinary, morbid existence.
Against the backdrop of the case, where they are briefly showered with unexpected attention, Anne and Clementine forge an unusual camaraderie. They are both broke and live life on the edge, leading a hand-to-mouth existence. Their similarities, however, largely end there. While Anne’s mysteries are intentionally left opaque, Clementine transparently verbalises everything on her mind. The stark contrast immediately piques curiosity.
Clementine returns home a transformed woman in the middle of the trial, thanks to the evidence Anne gathers, but the story then becomes Anne’s determined hunt for the missing video (the one that could definitively prove Chevalier’s guilt). With Anne’s modelling career on the wane, the director effectively mirrors her psychological trauma and restlessness through this escalating obsession.
Red Rooms rises above the average crime fare because of its precise visual cues; passive viewing is not an option. Much of Anne’s internal chaos is communicated solely through her screen activity, the visual textures, and the colour grading. The director’s responsible choice to portray the crime using only selective video footage and relying mainly on audio further emphasises the thematic core.
The stylistic choices that close the film are equally unconventional. Clementine’s final view of the case is more evolved in retrospect, while Anne’s behaviour borders on pure narcissism. Through these two exaggerated characters with radically different opinions, the filmmaker delivers a strong social comment on human impulses and the desperation for validation.
For all the visual and dramatic tension that it boasts, Red Rooms has a decisive ending, though one with a refined twist. Go for this offbeat courtroom drama, which is mostly a riveting character study.
Music and Other Departments?
Jonah Malak’s score, especially in the film’s final half an hour, is extremely efficient in intensifying the drama and reflecting the anxiety within Anne. The music remains subtly suggestive in other situations, altering its contours as per the visual mood.
The cinematography, by Vincent Beron, with its sharp close-ups, successfully penetrates the personas of the key characters, significantly helped by the innovative colour grading and unique editing style. The fact that the film shows more than it tells is indicative of its technical precision.
Highlights?
Unique take on the courtroom drama genre
Good performances, technical detailing
Consistently unpredictable
Drawbacks?
A few stylistic, experimental choices go overboard
Clementine’s character lacks enough depth
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, a unique crime/courtroom drama through the lens of a voyeuristic spectator
Red Rooms (Les Chambres Rouges)OTT Movie Review by M9
