Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
The high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the case’s puzzle.
Red Rooms is a strikingly singular Canadian thriller that earns genuine praise for its conception and execution. The plot is tightly constructed and genuinely unsettling — its procedural coldness and refusal of conventional thriller beats make it feel fresh and disturbing. The dark web auction, Bitcoin gambling, and snuff film elements are woven into the narrative with clinical precision rather than exploitation. Cinematography is a major strength: Pascal Plante's controlled, near-sterile compositions and patient framing create unbearable dread without resorting to cheap shocks — the aesthetic is truly distinctive. Novelty is high because this is a rare film that feels wholly itself — its detached, almost affectless tone and the way it withholds psychological explanation put it apart from the crowded serial killer subgenre. Acting is competent — Juliette Gariépy is compelling in a deliberately opaque role, though the surrounding cast is less remarkable. The ending, while tonally consistent, is somewhat ambiguous to the point of being slightly withholding rather than resonant, which limits its impact for some viewers.