Red Rooms, a Canadian psychological thriller written and directed by Pascal Plante, begins with the trial of Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos), who is accused of murdering three teenage girls by mutilating them and broadcasting their deaths on Red Rooms, a chat room on the dark web where people pay to watch snuff films. Infatuated with the case, Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy), a successful fashion model and online poker player with deep dark web knowledge, attends the high-profile trial. As her fixation intensifies, the line between reality and her morbid fantasy blurs, leading her to explore the shadowy corners of the dark web in her quest to uncover the case’s important clue.
Red Rooms is Pascal Plante’s unique take on serial killer films. Here, he focuses on everything surrounding the three murders of teenage girls. As the trial becomes a media circus, different factions emerge, each with their point of view. There are obviously the parents and loved ones of the victims who want justice for their children’s murders. However, there is one faction that conducts media trials in which the accused is already declared guilty without concrete evidence, as depicted in the scene where people gather at a reality show to discuss the murders. Then there’s another faction that believes Chevalier is innocent, primarily adolescent girls (represented by Clementine) who fall for his innocent eyes and calm demeanor and are willing to create any number of conspiracy theories to defend him.
More than the case, the film centers on Kelly-Anne’s character and her fascination with it. Her character is coldly detached and possesses all the characteristics of a sociopath. She lives alone in a fancy apartment, has no friends or family, and only speaks with the AI and her manager. She appears to have a self-destructive obsession in which she is drawn to danger. Despite being a successful fashion model, she plays internet poker, where she is frighteningly skilled, enjoys crushing her opponents, and engages in various illegal activities online, including going to the dark web and acquiring victims’ snuff tapes.
Kelly-Anne’s fixation on the case is so intense that she spends nights outside the Palais de Justice in the cold to secure a seat in the courtroom the following day. She even befriends a serial killer groupie, Clementine (Laurie Babin), merely to gain more insight into her viewpoint and her defense of Chevalier, which intrigues and fascinates her. Even though her intentions for being obsessed over the case are purposefully not clearly stated, there’s enough nuance and layers in her character that tell us about her state of mind. Her motivations are hard to determine; is she captivated by Chevalier’s actions or disgusted by them? As a result, the film’s suspense builds from the enigma surrounding Kelly-Anne’s fixation on the case and her hidden motives. It reaches its zenith in a terrifying scene where she appears in court attired like a victim—complete with braces and a school uniform—in an attempt to provoke a reaction from the killer. The moment is further intensified when the typically impassive Chevalier gives her first thumbs up, confirming her worst suspicions.
Red Rooms also works because it offers a unique procedural angle where, instead of police officers combing through locations to investigate crimes, we see Kelly-Anne using her computer to discover information that not even the FBI or the police have been able to find. This includes the suspenseful sequence where she acquires a snuff film from the dark web, which involves a long process of verifying her identity and bidding skills. Subsequently, she must participate in an online poker game to submit a bid for the film. In a tense moment, she emerges victorious at the eleventh hour and accumulates sufficient funds (Bitcoin) to bid higher and secure the snuff film at auction. In another fascinating scene, Kelly-Anne cyberstalks Francine Beaulieu (Elisabeth Locas), the mother of one of the victims, buys her email ID and password (among other personal details), and then finds a way to bypass her smart lock and break into her home.
The film does not depict any actual bloodshed; however, the portrayal of the murderer and his actions, as well as the hype created surrounding the brutality of the tapes, more than compensate for painting a chilling picture of the crimes. Furthermore, the film’s use of tracking shots in the early courtroom scenes, mainly when Chevalier’s misdeeds are being explained, also contributes to the overall sense of gravity of the crimes. These tracking shots conclude with the camera gently panning towards Kelly-Anne, seated in the courtroom with a blank face, demonstrating her confidence and steadiness in her actions. Kelly-Anne understands what she is doing, but as the film progresses, she loses touch with reality as paranoia sets in and the camera movements get increasingly fragmented and choppy, implying that she may not be herself and is slipping into madness.
Juliette Gariépy, who plays Kelly-Anne, a detached human-being driven to self-destructive inclinations, carries the film with a riveting and icy performance. Red Rooms is a disturbing and uncomfortable experience that explores the public’s fascination with serial killers (and true crime) and will stick with you long after the film has ended.
Red Rooms movie links: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
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