Red Rooms

The most striking choice here is what the film refuses to show. The subject is a serial killer's trial: Ludovic Chevalier stands accused of murdering three teenage girls, of sexual abuse, of necrophilia and torture, and of filming these acts in red rooms and selling the recordings. Yet there is almost no violent imagery on screen. Apart from a single screenshot from inside a red room, everything is left to the viewer. At the centre is Kelly-Anne: a working model, an online poker player, and a woman fixated on the trial. Every morning she takes the closest seat in the gallery she can get. Beside her sits Clementine, who does not hide that she has fallen for the accused. The film never explains what either of them wants, and that hole is where the tension comes from. Pascal Plante directed. Juliette Gariépy plays Kelly-Anne and Laurie Babin plays Clementine. It screened at Karlovy Vary and collected fifteen awards internationally. Who it is for: viewers who like cold, distanced thrillers about true-crime fascination itself. Who it is not for: anyone for whom the subject matter is too heavy. The violence is unseen but constantly described, and the courtroom scenes do not spare details.