Red Rooms

Really interesting psychological thriller, exceptionally well made and well acted. The subject is quite heavy (sadistic murder of three young teenagers, grieving parents, trial detail) but tastefully and cleverly done to avoid gore and too much detail - the horror is only implied and hinted at, which makes it much more effective and scary. The acting is great, the storyline is interesting and the story does reach a finale of sorts; however, there is a problem with the main character - why is she so obsessed with this crime, the video, the trial? Kelly-Anne is beautiful, clever, wealthy, gifted, etc etc but also acts like a robot and does weird things which no sane person would even think of doing. And we never told why, there isn't even a hint of what is wrong with her (and there is obviously something seriously wrong with her). I felt no connection, no empathy and not much feeling towards her, apart from mild irritation.

I also found portrayal of her cute froglike courtroom friend a bit naïve and basic - even though her character was much more alive and believable. The storyline where she'd seen the snuff films and decided she doesn't love the sadistic murderer anymore was kind of laughable. In reality, women who fall for murderous monsters don't really care about the victims, and no amount of bloody evidence is going to make them to stop obsessing over the "alfa male" of their dream.

But on the whole, a really gripping and watchable film.