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Summary: Jackie works as a CCTV operator. Each day she watches over a small part of the world, protecting the people living their lives under her gaze. One day a man appears on her monitor, a man she thought she would never see again, a man she never wanted to see again. Now she has no choice, she is compelled to confront him.
Sophisticated character piece about coming to terms with tragedy. It's not wholly successful, but you can see Arnold's talent and it's a nice concept. Interesting sound design.
The exposition of what drives the protagonist is withheld from us until late in the film. Leading up to the revelation is content so loaded, I was forced to speculate, and my speculations made the plot a lot more interesting than the premise that's eventually uncovered. Red Road is needlessly misleading, and less secrecy may have improved it. As is, it's a well-made movie with an underwhelming, anti-climatic resolution.
Great performances and I really like Arnold's style even if I feel this film isn't entirely successful. The story is ok, but unlike some reviewers I felt it was pretty clear from an early point in the film why she was so obsessed with this guy (not exactly what had happened obviously, but the general idea). Which can be fine, but here it became sort of dull at times and made the movie feel overlong.
I inevitably kinda linked it by the time it was over. The ending was harsh and graphic, but those are always positive virtues in my mind. But the negative score is based mostly on the fact that the viewer is given virtually no clue about Jackie's relationship with Clyde. There are a few allusions here and there but it's not enough. And as a result, I spent most of the movie frustrated and confused, but most damning of all, I wasn't emotionally invested. Until the last 20 minutes, that is.
Billed as a thriller, but more the story of a woman coming to terms with a tragedy in her life. Slow moving, we don't really know why she does what she does until the final acts of the film. Has a very bleak atmosphere throughout, which fits nicely with the grim council estates of Glasgow where the story takes place. The conclusion is somewhat unsatisfying, and the film could easily have been 30 minutes shorter but strong performances are enough to keep you watching to the end.
Completely compelling despite the intimate camerawork being at odds with the film's withholding of information. The gut punching emotions, the eerie CCTV images, the tension as we don't quite know what Jackie is going to do or how things will pan out. Arnold has made a mature revenge movie which is emotionally and thematically complex, which is very affecting and which is extremely well put together with a beautiful colour palatte and Kate Dickie giving a great performance. A challenging film.
Interesting morality piece/character study. The film reminded me quite a bit of Kieslowski's Decalogue. It also has a similar conceptual background. In general, I was absorbed with the film and found parts of it very compelling. However, I felt like the crucial bit of information being held back until the end didn't have the impact that was probably intended. Good performances all around, though, and the narrative immediacy of the aesthetic contrasts nicely with the surveillance portions.
Completely compelling despite the intimate camera-work being at odds with the film's withholding of information. The gut punching emotions, the eerie CCTV images, the tension as we don't quite know what Jackie is going to do or how things will pan out. Arnold has made a mature revenge movie which is emotionally and thematically complex, which is very affecting and which is extremely well put together with a beautiful colour palette and Kate Dickie giving a great performance. A challenging film.
Very effective voyeuristic thriller which constantly unsettles the viewer by putting them in seemingly dangerous situations without explaining the full facts. Two great characters are portrayed by the man and woman. The lack of closure at the end is a little unsatisfying, but proves the film's point of saying: this is what real life is like. On a par with the director's next film, Fish Tank.
Such a great premise; such a lame execution. Boring and Dull ! Watch out! Listed as a thriller. This is ANYTHING BUT a thriller! I want the 2 hours of my life back that I used up watching this artistic mess of a movie!
Engaging, stark, but an ultimately predictable thriller, Red Road's greatest feature is its commentary on privacy and loneliness. Wonderful performances all around. It does well with the 'Dogme 95' style, creating a convincingly realistic image. Unfortunately for a thriller, it is a little hard not to see the ending from a mile away. But what Red Road says about the isolating effects of a society obsessed with surveillance is the core value of the film.
"By limiting our entry into Jackie's headspace, Red Road feels disingenuously committed to sympathetically portraying her situation, partly using her circumstances as pretense for narrative suspense." - Nick Schager
I don't know, the idea was really good and the cast was fine, but still I felt the movie didn't develop enough and was too slow even for my taste. The movie I think really loses its tempo somewhere in the middle; luckily, the end is better.
Arnold has a gift, finding little moments, looks, moves and situations for her characters, to make them bigger than life, in a good, even if this sounds grotesque, realistic way! In "Red Road" espacially.
Just ok. The suspense element was there, but it didn't really lead anywhere most of the time, which was a little unsatisfying. I guess it was interesting the way things turned out, but it felt like there was definite room for improvement. I'm interested to see the other movies in this series, if they ever get made.
I wasn’t sure quite what to make of it for the first half or so, but the third act really picked up. I liked that the main character was messed up and walked a thin line between right and wrong. She made morally questionable decisions and you weren’t sure exactly why until the end. I just love it when characters aren’t black and white. It wasn’t amazing, but it was definitely watchable, especially with the great performance from the lead actress.
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