Movie Review: ‘Red Rooms’ is About Voyeurs, Not Voyeurism

Director: Pascal Plante
Writer: Pascal Plante
Stars: Juliette Gariépy, Laurie Babin, Elisabeth Locas

Synopsis: A model becomes obsessed with a high-profile murder trial.

From the first moment Clementine (Laurie Babin) and Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) meet, we know they are two women from entirely different planets. Kelly-Anne is used to being seen, she walks with confidence, at least borrowed from working as a model in an industry that relies on beauty and superficial aesthetics of pitting women’s bodies against each other. Clementine is meek and awkward, unsure of whether it’s her right to request a refill of a wrong order delivered to her. As Kelly-Anne sternly assures her to demand changing the order, a few outlines are cleared in front of the viewers.

Red Rooms is a movie about the voyeurs, not voyeurism.

First things first, Red Rooms follows successful model Kelly-Anne, a smart tech-savvy young woman as she reserves a seat to attend the trial of the decade. Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) has been accused of kidnapping and murdering three teenage girls and is being tried in front of a jury. Kelly-Anne, the complicit, perverse spectator, is there to watch every bit of it. Along comes quirky, awkward true crime groupie, Clementine, a naive woman who paints a romantic obsession with the serial killer, claiming his innocence. As she bonds with Kelly-Anne, something sinister underneath builds between them, their morbid obsession not just with the details of the crime or the accused, but the violence.

Kelly-Anne, is similar to a Cronenberg protagonist, a violence junkie. But like many faithful modern voyeurs, she’s obsessed with real-life violence; the more realistic, the better. The grittier the details, the longer she stays aroused. Like every other hybristophile, Kelly-Anne finds euphoria in all the minute details surrounding a crime, including stalking the families of the victims, down to the most intricate detail in their lives.

To an untrained eye, Kelly-Anne might seem like a killer’s accomplice. She’s well-versed in the crime; possibly more than the detectives themselves. But as the film moves further, the more sinister truth is revealed; she’s obsessed. She gets off on those the grisly and the macabre of a crime scene and that’s all. In her quest for the thrill, she loses interest in everything. As a professional poker player. she’s used to winning, but, like every gambler, winning means nothing, so whatever she makes, she easily breaks. This is why in the event of bringing down Ludovic Chevalier, she brings herself down with him, like Samson who pushed with all his strength and down came the temple on her and Ludovic’s head. But it impacts everyone involved; Clementine, a victim’s mother, her modeling agency, and the list goes on. She loses, but so does everyone in her wake. She enjoys Ludovic’s demise, not for a sense of righteousness but for the pleasure of self-destruction. After building up a case and piling up evidence, she watches as everything burns. It’s a psyche that only a truly messed up woman understands, especially if to the world she appears as pure perfection, the epitome of what it means to win it all.

Pascal Plante’s film is violent, sadistic, and gritty without showing a hint of violence. It leaves one feeling dirty, ashamed, and slightly baffled at the connivance in the heinous, internet-exploited crimes. It feels as if we paid to enter the red rooms with Kelly-Anne, as if we sat next to her and watched in awe, as the victims met their horrifying fate, and like Kelly-Anne we sat down hungry, lusting for more. We feel no different than the Romans watching prisoners or slaves eaten to death by lions in the Colosseum. But sadly, our version of the modern Colosseum is internet rooms, watched from the safety of a cozy couch, behind screens while stroking a cat. This film is not for the faint of heart.

Grade: A+