Red Rooms
classified 15 SPlease note: This was screened in Sept 2024
A successful fashion model becomes obsessed with a serial killer who posts videos of his murders on the dark web in Pascal Plante's disturbing psychological thriller. The high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) is completely obsessed. As the proceedings drag on and she spends more time in the courtroom with the victims’ families, Kelly-Anne finds it increasingly difficult to maintain her psychological balance as her morbid fixation with the killer deepens.
As the trial gets underway Kelly-Anne bonds with another groupie Clementine (Laurie Babin),who is absolutely convinced of Chevalier's innocence. Their new-found bond momentarily breaks Kelly-Anne out of her own isolation but when reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the puzzle: the missing video of Chevalier's third victim, to whom Kelly-Anne bears a disturbing resemblance.
With impressive lead performances from Babin as the heartbreaking and confused Clementine and the emotional and physical exactness that Gariépy brings to her portrayal of Kelly-Anne this is a fascinating exploration both of the ethics of becoming too involved in true crimes cases and the toll that the consumption of true crime by spectators can take on their pysche.