Red Rooms – Review

Kelly-Anne (Gariépy) wakes up on a quiet Quebec street, early in the morning just before sunrise. She has been sleeping there, but she is not drunk, nor homeless. She gets up, picks up her bag and walks to the nearby city courthouse. She gains entry and gets through security, then finds a list of court cases on a wall display. She enters her desired court room, and sits in the back. But… why is she here?

Today is the first day of this case’s proceedings, which begin. The Justice introduces himself and instructs the jury as to decide if Mr. Ludovic Chevalier (McCabe-Lokos) is guilty or not guilty of the charges at hand. The case is to cover explicit content related to violent accusations of murder, confinement, sexual assault and more. This has been a very public case that has been building to this trial for years.

The Crown Prosecutor introduces the concept of Red Rooms, which are a streaming dark web voyeur creation. Descriptions of their use make the horror movie franchise Saw appear like a Disney cartoon. So, why on Earth would anyone want to slug through the horror of this topic?

At this point, the movie advances its plot into both courtroom procedural and an insanely tense at times ticking-clock technological thriller. Kelly-Anne’s mysterious motives are slowly revealed (mostly), as well as the high stakes of the prosecutor’s case. Technology takes front and center as a focal point as the dark web enters the picture. Balancing this court and computer mixture works very well for this particular story.

While there is absolutely zero violence itself shown in this movie, the experience remains absolutely chilling and horrifying to the core. Sounds do more than what is necessary to have one’s imagination fill in any details. The viewer must have a strong constitution despite this lack of violence, and this movie will likely stay with you well after the credits roll. The material presented is as dark as it gets, but this hypnotic movie is very well done.

I have to admit, there is not too much else I have seen that is similar to the experience of this movie. The films below are a stretch for comparison.