Red Rooms and Modernity in Film

On a recent walk home from a work function I witnessed something that just about shook me to my core. Something that in reality is even more horrifying than what I could even have imagined in a dream. Standing before for me was an ominous black void, a leviathan that loomed over being with a level of malice only matched by mine for it. A building that was once our local theater, a former marble palace that housed not only some of my favorite childhood memories but my grandmother's. A place that I had long accepted was no more as it had been more than a decade since it was last open. But seeing it in it's new form almost didn't fell real. Nor did it a few years ago when I saw them removing the seats or indeed when the palace finally fell to rubble. No standing parallel to and in front of a sign that now bore the very name of the childhood theater that I loved, the place where my grandmother would watch Hungarian talkies with her mother during the latter days of The Depression, it not only felt real, it felt real insulting. As I read the words "A New Cinematic Experience" I thought to myself "What the hell was wrong with the old one?".

Not a goddamned thing that's what. While I called the place a marble palace the truth is it was rotting corpse of a space, one whose luster and charm had long faded from its glory years, a place where it wasn't even safe to occupy its balcony for fear of a collapse and one that in truth probably outlived its life expectancy by a good forty years. It becoming luxury apartments is progress! A way forward. Truthfully I always thought the old place was haunted as us kids do, but I didn't understand how. The sad truth is other than my memories, The Boyd Theatre that I grew up with is no more, just as the one my grandmother knew was long gone by my time. And that hurts, it really does especially as someone who has already lost so much of my grandmother since her passing nearly a decade ago. I'll never know the charm of having an usher wish her and my great grandmother good night in Hungarian or the novelty of receiving a plate from said theater as a token of appreciation or the sense of comfort it must have given my great grandmother who by that point had raised 10 children with her eyesight failing to hear her native tongue again, even if it was only just once a month. But what I do know is that sense of community, even in its ever receding luster never left The Boyd or its cheap slightly stale popcorn and likely mildewed fountain drinks. It was a safe harbinger, a place to take your kids to see the latest blockbuster or to watch the best picture winner, it was analog in world of digital long before that became cool and now it's gone never to be replaced. I write this great anecdote to say the obvious, the world is changing and doing so at an ever more rapid pace. This has been a tough review for me to draft out as I feel that while my feelings towards this film haven't changed in the months since I first watched it, it's relevance very much has. It just feels current and it's only going to feel that much more so as things continue to spiral. I'd like to think I'm far from a doom and gloomer but the truth is when I watch "Red Rooms" I don't think "My god are things really this bad" but rather "Holy fuck things maybe even worse than I thought". When I see the horrid luxury apartments that replaced my local theater with their gimmick names for their various leasing packages, not only do I think they could house the film's central character but almost fit in line with what I feel is the evermore gentrified state of film. With that said, I almost feel a sense of hope watching it too, if for no other reason than it's the seemingly rare case of a young director actually caring about the little details and taking the time to not only do research but to do it on multiple levels. For the first time in a long time I feel like I really have found a film that doesn't just present itself as being intellectual, but actually is. With a lot being made about recently who in horror will be the one to inherit the Cronenberg crown and that particular conversation seemingly only existing on an aesthetical level. I'll say that whilst I think that it is entirely too early to crown his fellow countrymen in Pascal Plante as such, he has directed a film that actually seems like it'd be something that the man in question would write and direct based on the subject matter alone. That of course isn't to say that the film solely wears its influences on its sleeve the way so many current horror features indulgently do these days, but for the first time in a really long time I actually feel as if there is a way foreword in film that isn't reliant on gimmicks or brand recognition. Something that is willing to address the contemporary world in a meaningful manner and not run from the idea of a cellphone or computer and even finds a way to make using them look interesting, rather than how most films treat them which is the same as a toilet. You know they're there, you know what they're used for but you rarely see people use it personally and just assume that they do. I also appreciate its willingness to be granular regarding the trial at the center of the film down to the minutia of legal talk and detailed explanations of browsers, it even goes to the length recreating a real Montreal courtroom. In truth the thing that really won me over with this film was it going as far to give a simple explanation for the hum in our protagonist's apartment. "It's the wind". The wind won me over, what can I say? In an ever changing climate where even my own attention span seems like it's being heavily taxed, I appreciate a film that stands steadfast in being expecting of its audience to give it all of theirs. This is a film that has haunted me for months now, it'll probably haunt me long after I've published this review. There's a real evilness at the heart of its soul that's been sticking with me like a black mark and I won't feel better until I've finished this review. So without further ado, let's dive in.

If one were to ask me "Luke what's the tone of Red Rooms" I'd say it's ethereal, like a long lost folk tale come back to haunt us in the 21st century only told from the perspective of the Big Bad Wolf. Something about this just feels eternally evil, like watching a part of ourselves we all wish to deny become sentient an decide to play out every true crime fantasy we could have imagined in the most ugly and raw manner. There are several scenes in this film that legit get under my skin like a hangnail and serve as proof gore isn't always necessary for a good shock. What makes Kelly-Anne and in turn "Red Rooms" so effective is I don't what her "why" is and that scares me far more than if I actually had even the smallest inkling. Kelly-Anne to me is as close to a blank slate as I've seen in film in recent memory, while one could easily guess as to what her motivations are, I don't know if they ever truly have a concrete foundation and I think for some that might be a weakness regarding this film. I remember having a conversation recently with an author friend of mine who didn't like the film over social media about this very thing. But,why I do think that it is the more interesting and maybe even the appropriate approach is that it is in a way more realistic to the reactionary nature of people and internet culture. Much of what Kelly-Anne does isn't so much based in any sense of ideology or agenda but simply done for clout. Her constant need for validation flies in contrast for her want for anonymity and the arc of her character is not growth but constant contradiction. Perhaps one could try to validate her actions as a form of rebellion against her profession as a model and without getting to heavy into spoilers their is a scene or two that validates such an argument. I think a scene that illustrates her want of control is when she lightly brags about being able to buy lunch with her winnings from a session of crypto poker for herself and the character who ultimately becomes her counterpart in Clementine. In fact anytime Kelly-Anne is without it in the film she reacts in the extreme, whether that's putting herself through a severe workout or smashing her self programed AI bot for telling a joke she didn't like or ultimately the incident that causes her to be barred from attending the court case at the center of the film's drama. Her whole reality is about perception and watching the toxic control she has over Clementine during their brief friendship is simply harrowing and one of the things I feel that this film does do with tact.

One of the creepiest things I found personally was her dressing up Clementine exactly the same as her when playing racket ball and refusing to take her racket back when Clementine finally leaves her. I really feel that Clementine really helps to balance the film. She unlike Kelly-Anne was willing to stand behind her convictions publicly and even makes a fool of herself on a call in show despite the protests of the former. Though she is very much a misguided and even ignorant person, she presumes that the film's killer is innocent based on his eyes after all, the major defining factor for her in the end is her willingness to change when presented with evidence that confirms contrary. The literal line in the curtain that separates Kelly-Anne and Clementine during the snuff film scene is such a great detail one that for me only serves to heighten the contrast in their reactions to witnessing its contents. While you can identify both as a groupie, I truly believe that Kelly-Anne is someone who identifies more with the subjugation and victim hood of murder than she is with outright supporting a killer and why her actions in the last act of the film are to the level of extremity they are. I don't want to go into much more detail but I would simply like to end this portion of the review by saying this, do not confuse this film being reserved for an unwillingness to go there, this film is raw, it's like scratching at a phantom wound and asks some important questions about all of us, about our obsession for true crime and really just obsession in general. There's always gonna be a new case for Kelly-Anne the same way there will always be a new media cycle to voyeuristicaly exploit it. I don't say this lightly but this very much reeks of the worst and drama laden parts of the web, while it likely won't ever reach the same cultural zenith or importance, I do think this is the "Network"of the internet age. It's just tuned in to the cultural in a way that other internet based horror films aren't. It's not at all salacious in the typical manner, but it will still very much make you uncomfortable and has a meaningful purpose in doing so. I'm not necessarily someone whom often gets excited by new directors but I am excited to see what Pascal Plante's follow up to "Red Rooms" is. I just hope whatever it is isn't obvious or I fear it'll be another case of a promising director being swallowed by the Hollywood machine before they have a chance to truly grow and flourish. Now more than ever horror doesn't need more kitsch marketability, irony, or meta posting, it needs sincerity. Film in general could use some. The reason "Red Rooms" works for me the way others haven't is while I do think that it is a self aware film, it doesn't go out of its way to constantly remind you that it is, it just is. But I'm just a slightly old guy farting in the wind so what do I know? While I'm typing this 30 more theaters probably just got ransacked by teenagers for tiktok clout over what'll probably go down as this years "Barbie". Let 'em have their cake I guess.

I hope you all give "Red Rooms" a watch in the near future and speaking of futures, I think it's best to address mine regarding the future of this site and my reviews on here. As of right now this will the final of my posts here as I would like to continue to expand my writing beyond that of film criticism and no longer wish to deal with the current problems of hosting them on a space like wix. Which while it has provided me a somewhat stable home is not worth the price of maintaining and hosting my domain. I won't leave the realm of criticism entirely though but my plan as of right now is to primarily move into fiction writing in the near future. But I will definitely be changing how and what I review going forward. I want to continue to provide a space where people discover new things but it will no longer be under the banner of "LukeonFilm" and hopefully will be something that is a bit more interactive. I thank you all who have continued to read my work and I hope that you support me in my next endeavors. Whatever and wherever they might. So farewell for now and as always I shall return.