Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
After hitting rock bottom in Los Angeles, former porn star Mikey Saber returns to his hometown in Texas to stay with his estranged wife and mother-in-law. Just as tensions begin to ease, he becomes infatuated with a young doughnut shop worker named Strawberry.
Red Rocket is a character study built around Simon Rex's remarkably committed and charismatic performance as Mikey Saber, a fast-talking, self-deluding narcissist who is magnetic and repellent in equal measure. Rex's work is genuinely exceptional — a career-best turn that carries the film through its slower stretches. Sean Baker's naturalistic, fly-on-the-wall direction gives the film a lived-in texture rooted in Texas City's industrial landscape, though the cinematography is functional rather than striking. The plot is episodic and deliberately meanders, which suits the character but limits dramatic momentum. The film's voice is recognizably Baker's — working-class margins, non-professional performers, empathy without sentimentality — but it doesn't feel as singularly inventive as Tangerine or The Florida Project; it refines his mode rather than expanding it. The ambiguous, abrupt ending fits the film's tone thematically but may frustrate viewers expecting resolution, landing as deliberately inconclusive rather than genuinely resonant.