Red Rooms ★★★★

IF I had managed to see Red Rooms last year it would have been in my top films of 2024.

This Canadian film was first released in 2023 and worked its way slowly to the attention of critics and limited audiences via the international festival circuit. In Australia it has gone straight to home streaming services.

Written and directed by Pascal Plante, it’s a dark and disturbing combination of courtroom drama and psychological thriller.

The setting is Montreal where the trial of a man accused of murdering three teenage girls is taking place. Ludovic Chevalier is also accused of filming the brutal murders which were broadcast on a pay per view section of the internet’s dark web.

The FBI has provided two of the ‘Red Room’ snuff films to the Canadian authorities but hasn’t been able to locate the third. Despite the girls’ corpses being found in the backyard of a home rented by Chevalier, he cannot be completely identified on the films because the killer is wearing a balaclava.

The case has become a media circus attracting curious onlookers as well as family and friends of the victims and some supporters of Chevalier who think he is innocent and possibly being framed by the authorities.

The film focuses on two women attending every day of the trial – fashion model Kelly-Anne, who lives in Montreal, and Clementine, a Chevalier supporter who has hitchhiked to the city and is living on the street.

The two women bond over their common interest in the trial, Kelly-Anne eventually letting Clementine stay at her apartment and attending each day together.

While Clementine’s views and motivations appear clear, Kelly-Anne continues to be an enigma to the audience, revealing nothing until the film’s final act.

Juliette Gariépy and Laurie Babin are extremely good as Kelly-Anne and Clementine respectively, using the intelligent script to quietly build audience insights to their characters.

Director Pascal and his cinematographer Vincent Biron create two distinct looks to the film, contrasting stark lighting for the courtroom proceedings with the darkness of Kelly-Anne’s apartment and the intimate scenes between the two women.

The final act provides the clarity needed to reach a thoroughly satisfying conclusion to a mesmerising film.

Watched on Apple TV.