Red Lights
User Score
5.4 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 16 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 16
  3. Negative: 6 out of 16

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  1. jayford
    Sep 14, 2004
    9
    "Red Lights" has a very clever structure fleshed out in the most unassuming way possible. As a thriller it delivers: it has suspense, surprises, some shivers and poignancy. But don't expect these contents to come in the usual package. To start with, the movie's soundtrack is basically Debussy's "clouds". There's a section in the movie that reminded me of Michael Mann's "Collateral": a "good" man gives a lift to a "not so good" man. Fortunately, the "not so good man" doesn't like talking" and the "good" man, the one driving, is careless, to say the least. There are no city streets in these scenes, some traffic and road checks but mostly the road and a countryside hidden by the night. It works. Darroussin and Bouquet as the couple who go through this ordeal are terrific.… Expand
  2. VinceH.
    Nov 12, 2004
    9
    I went into this film not knowing a thing about it, and left very surprised how much I liked it. Along with Michael Haneke's "Time of the Wolf", this is probably the most memorable French film I've seen all year. First of all, I LOVED Jean-Pierre Darroussin in this movie and his is by far my favorite performance by an actor this year. He is so utterly watchable and with his schlub-like demeanor and everyday looks he is like Olivier Gourmet without the intensity. The first 30 minutes of the film are very Chabrol-like, with its portrayal of a bourgeouis couple attempting to hide the seething rage/resentment under the surface. But once Darroussin picks up a shady character in a bar and offers him a ride, the film shifts tones dramatically and becomes a horror-inflected suspense film. Cedric Kahn masterfully handles shifts in tone and style. Scenes start from bright, clean, open Paris streets and restaurants to rock-music blaring, danky nightclubs to small French countryside villages. The locations are used to wonderful effect and help support the story. Also, I really love how Kahn films Darroussin's drunkeness and driving. The camera movements and scenes behind the wheel (where the camera sits in a static position and all we see are what he sees: hazy red streams of light and twisting streets). I really felt like we get a sense of what state of mind this guy is in as he is wasted out of his mind. And since the entire film is told from his point of view it is even more harrowing. Also, I must add to the bonehead who mentioned the brilliant scene where Darroussin uses a phone at a coffee shop and calls various hospitals and police stations searching for his wife. That is a virtuoso sequence and one of the best I've seen all year. The conversations are so intense and compelling that it almost feels like the whole thing was done in one take. We are really caught up in what is going on and who can't relate to that anyway?… Expand
  3. RegOz
    Apr 6, 2012
    9
    I love the movie! I understand however, that in some countries, like in the States, a movie like this doesn't have the same effect that what it has in Europe, Latin America or even in some areas here in Australia (i.e Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide that are more European-like) . In my case, this movie is 'my type', perhaps partly because of my European ancestry. I believe the exposure to European culture has given me a different perspective of things-besides the Australian- and that includes art. Nonetheless, I have to agree that the film could have been better, that is for sure! There were things to be improved and they could have prolongued the tension and twisted the plot a bit more, but I enjoyed it so much as it was, anyway! An excellent movie...original, well crafted, great performances...! A real delight!… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
74 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 28
  3. Negative: 2 out of 28
  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    The sights, sounds and traffic in Red Lights are oppressively ordinary; the people are unnervingly real. That reality doubles the suspense we might feel in a more slickly made but thinly plotted thriller.
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  2. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Richard James Havis
    80
    A classy and clever French thriller. Jean-Pierre Darroussin's performance as a browbeaten husband is entertaining, and Kahn's script brings wit and imagination to a straightforward story.
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  3. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    80
    With ruthless efficiency and wit, Kahn ratchets up unbearable tension and releases it in startlingly visceral fashion, but his placid denouement is the most chilling scene of all.
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