RED ROOMS is a new Psychological Serial Killer Thriller that will stay with you after the end credits. It’s slowburn but that only makes it hit you harder. Read our full Red Rooms movie review here!

RED ROOMS is a new thriller I have been looking forward to ever since I heard about it. Of course, this also carries a huge risk of disappointment. Fortunately, this movie—which is difficult to explain properly—delivers on so many levels.

It’s from Canada (org. title: Les chambres rouges) and is a serial killer movie presented as a psychological thriller. However, we witness the trial so this isn’t about catching the killer. The focus is on ensuring that he is convicted – and his lawyers are very creative in their defense of him.

Continue reading our Red Rooms movie review below. Find it on Shudder from January 14, 2025.

A look at the role of true-crime

While Red Rooms is a psychological serial killer thriller, it’s also about the fascination with true crime. During its runtime, the film clearly focuses on how this can mess with people’s minds while also showing that it’s near-impossible to hear about these crimes. 

We follow Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) who wakes up every morning by the courthouse. She spends much of the night there despite having a gorgeous apartment. All to secure a seat at the high-profile trial of Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos).

She is obsessed with Ludovic Chevalier, a serial killer, but maybe not quite in the way you’d expect. She watches him and tries to find something in the way he looks and reacts. However, as he sits there at his own trial, he doesn’t react much at all.

Very quickly, she bonds with a young woman (Laurie Babin), who is convinced that he’s innocent, and has a different kind of fascination with the man on trial. Over the course of the trial, Kelly-Anne’s morbid fixation with the killer changes.

Red Rooms – Review | Psychological Serial Killer Thriller

Juliette Gariépy is mesmerizing

Watching Juliette Gariépy as Kelly-Anne in Red Rooms is what makes the movie for me. There isn’t even that much dialogue in the movie – except during the trial where the lawyers obviously explain the details of the crimes. And they are quite gruesome!

Kelly-Anne herself doesn’t talk much, but thanks to Juliette Gariépy, it’s still fairly easy to understand her state of mind. And that’s all you need to know about this movie going in. Do try to avoid spoilers, as it’s all about experiencing how Kelly-Anne acts and reacts.

While the entire movie leaves a strong mark on its audience, the final 15 minutes are particularly memorable. Everything seems to speed up as there’s a certain urgency due to the trial coming to an end.

Red Rooms will stay with you long after the end credits are over.

Watch Red Rooms on Shudder

This new dark psychological thriller is written and directed by Pascal Plante, who previously made Les faux tatouages (2017) and Nadia, Butterfly (2020). While I feel I have to describe Red Rooms as slow-burn, it really doesn’t feel like a slow movie.

It packs a real punch. Just in a different way!

Every cast member in this movie delivers a strong performance, but for me, it’s still very much about Juliette Gariépy as Kelly-Anne. She’s the character we experience everything through. Even in long scenes, she’s always in the background. Watching and evaluating everything.

This is a Canadian movie (org. title: Les chambres rouges) which means the trial setting is different from the typical US setting. Instead, it’s more like the UK and French (for obvious reasons) trials you may have seen. However, this is another element that works perfectly.

Red Rooms premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. After its premiere, it went on to screen at several leading global film festivals. Including the Fantasia Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, and the BFI London Film Festival.

Red Rooms begins Streaming On Shudder on January 14, 2025.

Details

Writer & Director: Pascal Plante
Cast: Juliette Gariépy, Laurie Babin, Maxwell McCabe Lokos

Plot

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 puzzle: the missing video of a murdered 13-year-old girl, to whom Kelly-Anne bears a disturbing resemblance.

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
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