Sometimes the word “myth” is more of a security blanket than a definition of an agreed-upon story based on faith. This is what we used in ancient times to explain natural phenomena or things like luck and destiny. In recent years, the myth has become disturbing due to the rise of sites like Reddit and Discord, as well as many social media platforms. Influenced by conspiracy theories and deepfakes, myths have now become stories we wish weren’t true (just look at the many creepy spaghetti or the countless Slender Man and Chernobyl ghosts posted online every day picture). The problem is that you have to spend most of your time online for them to really attract you.
Pascal Plantof red room is based on one of these new “better not true” myths: the titular red room, a dark website where users can pay cryptocurrency to watch killers massacre innocents. This is a popular internet myth that has also been discussed Ed Whipsof extreme violence red room comic, more closely following in the footsteps of French extreme horror cinema. In Plant’s case, the result is a horrifying film about humanity’s potential for depravity that says more about those who seek that depravity online than it does about those who create such content for consumption.
The film stars a model named Kelly-Anne (produced by Juliette Gallippi), a woman obsessed with the trial of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier (played stoically by Ludovic Chevalier) Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) was accused of murdering and mutilating three young girls. Given the nature of the killing, the case shocked the city of Montreal. Each one is fully documented and posted on the dark web for purchase.
Kelly-Anne soon became someone who largely lived online, delving into every aspect of the trial and even digging up personal information about one of the victim’s mothers by scouring news reports and profile trackers. Earlier, Kelly-Anne met a raving fan on Clementine (courtesy of Laurie Babin), a more intense version of herself, who appears to be in love with Chevalier despite only seeing him on television. That’s not necessarily the case with Kelly-Anne. Her crush is kept secret for almost the entire movie. The reveal is decisive enough, though, that for some viewers it will either make or break the film.
On the surface, red room It seems it’s all about the fascination with the digital age, and to some extent it is. But what it really wants to understand is how this obsession leads users to completely ignore their offline existence and effectively live in an always-on reality. It’s a fascinating argument, and Plant successfully shows how, as the story unfolds, Kelly-Anne becomes more reliant on her phone and computer than anything more concrete.
To emphasize this point, Plant shows how Kelly-Anne devoted less and less time to her offline life as the trial progressed. Her exercise routine, one of her sources of income, her daily intake of information, her daily calendar, they all come from digital sources. All she really needs is food from the real world and nothing else. In a sense, what red room Chronicle is the process by which a person leaves the material world and embraces the dominance of technology. It’s like watching the slow death of one state of being and the rise of another.
The film is exhausting thanks to Juliette Gariépy’s performance as Kelly-Anne. She approaches the character with a static sense of intensity, revealing little about her actual motivations beyond the fact that it revolves around Chevalier’s case. Something is squirming inside her, keeping the audience guessing as to what it might be.
At times she seems obsessed with the killer. To others, she gave the impression that she was simply morbidly curious and fascinated by the prospect of watching a film of Chevalier’s killings. Gary Epip kept the character’s secret closely, a decision that really helped establish an ambiguity that sparked speculation.
In fact, Kellyanne’s subdued emotional delivery and her tense body language are what make the film so unsettling, especially when the serial killer elements take a back seat and let the characters work to drive the narrative. It’s here that the film either satisfies or disappoints. Plant reveals as little as possible throughout the film, only to lift the curtain on nearly the entire Kelly-Anne mystery in the final scene. It changes the meaning of the film, and it feels like a cop-out considering how Carrie-Anne’s ambiguity explains so many of the film’s poignant themes. Suddenly, a sense of morality comes over and it takes over, diminishing the impact of some of the character’s previous actions.
All this was too sudden. Subtlety and nuance in the ending seem to be thrown out the window, leaving little room for interpretation (the film invites the viewer to wallow in it for much of its running time). So things that are initially disturbing end up losing a little bit of their power as they are repurposed. If it doesn’t explain the things that drive Kelly-Anne, things get more serious.
red room is an impressive display of mystery. It doesn’t rely on gore or gruesome kill scenes to establish a lingering pitch-black tone. This is not a procedural movie, nor is it a serial killer movie Selenium 7en or zodiac signs (Just like some trailers show). This is a character study that should leave more questions unanswered to really leave a mark.
