North American Premiere
Every morning before dawn, Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) descends on a Montréal courthouse, eager to secure front row seats for the harrowing trial of Ludwig Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos), a loner accused of the torture and murder of three teenage girls. Even more disturbingly, these atrocities were streamed online in the Dark Web’s “red rooms” to depraved audiences who could ante up the ungodly cryptocurrency admission. As Kelly-Anne’s obsession grows, her personal life and career unravel as she plunges into the seediest recesses of the Dark Web to secure a key piece of evidence.
With its exquisitely choreographed long takes, entrancing zooms, and surgical editing, there’s certainly the temptation to say this sees Pascal Plante (Nadia, Butterfly) going “full Fincher”. In actual fact, it finds him continuing his intrepid examinations of subcultures while employing even more exacting direction. A cautionary tale about evil’s allure, Red Rooms is unsettling and enthralling in equal measure.
A disturbingly brilliant psychological horror
Deadline
October 2 & 4: Q&A with director Pascal Plante & crew
Juliette Gariépy, Laurie Babin, Elisabeth Locas, Natalie Tannous, Pierre Chagnon
Canada
2023
Panorama
In French with English subtitles
Violence, Sexual Violence
At International Village
At The Rio
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Tim Ringuette
Producer
Dominique Dussault
Screenwriter
Pascal Plante
Cinematography
Vincent Biron
Editor
Jonah Malak
Production Design
Laura Nhem
Original Music
Dominique Plante
Director
Pascal Plante
Pascal Plante is a Montreal-based filmmaker. His narrative feature Nadia, Butterfly (2020) has been included in the official selection of the 73rd edition of Cannes Film Festival. After his graduation from Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Pascal co-founded the production company Nemesis Films, with which he directed numerous short films including Blast Beat (Slamdance 2019), Blue-Eyed Blonde (Best Canadian Short Film, VIFF 2015), and Nonna (Slamdance 2017). His first narrative feature, a punk romance entitled Fake Tattoos, competed at the Berlinale, in Generation 14plus, in 2018. Pascal considers himself like a cinephile that became a narrative filmmaker with documentarian tendencies. Red Rooms is his third narrative feature.
Filmography: Nadia, Butterfly (2020); Fake Tattoos (2017)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Montreal, ma belle
In this Valentine to discovering love later in life, the ever-elegant Joan Chen plays Feng Xia, a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother in Montreal whose world is turned upside down when she meets and falls in love with a young Quebecoise.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Mixing documentary and reenactment, this film powerfully evokes the desperate attempts of the Red Crescent to rescue a six year old child trapped in a car under Israeli military fire. Oscar nominee: Best International Film
Spring After Spring
Three daughters strive to live up to the standards set by their mother Marie Mimi Ho, and keep Vancouver Chinatown's Spring Parade going through thick and thin, in this enormously affectionate local documentary by Jon Chiang.
The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes
A beautiful portrait of E.J. Hughes, who quietly helped reshape the artistic landscape of British Columbia in the 20th century. This extraordinary documentary explores Hughes’s legacy not only as an artist, but as a devoted, humble human being.