Juliette Gariépy didn’t really want to be in a movie where a killer attacks teenage girls. “We’ve seen too much femicide in the news already,” she breathes. But filmmaker Pascal Plante’s approach – and fame – convinced her to play the thriller’s main character. The red rooms.
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“Although I’m less of a spectator as an actress, I don’t like it when men kill women. Often in these films we don’t care about the victims, we don’t care about their families. So there’s no way I want to go there,” continues the actress, who met Le Journal last month.
But Pascal Plante doesn’t go “there” with The Red Rooms. The filmmaker may articulate his plot around a murderer who committed barbaric crimes, but he doesn’t make them the focus of his film.
shabby video
Because there are two young women we follow there, both obsessed with the hypermedia trial of this man nicknamed the “Demon of Rosemont.” They will do everything they can to get hold of the missing piece of evidence to acquit or convict the killer, which the police appear to have missed.
“We start the film when the murders have already been committed. It’s about everything else – the search for the truth, the victims’ families, etc. – that interests us. However, this is not a film about a killer. And that was important to me,” emphasizes Juliette Gariépy.
This search for the truth will lead our two heroines into the darkest corners of the secret web, that virtual space where taboos no longer exist and where everything is on offer (at a certain price, exorbitant of course).
Because the missing piece of the puzzle is the sordid video of one of the murders committed by the demon of Rosemont, which netizens are tearing down in search of thrills. Actress Laurie Babin advises a concept that gives you goosebumps.
“We are constantly bombarded with images and information [à un point où] we become desensitized. Some people have to engage in more dangerous and extreme things to be stimulated, and that’s a pretty scary reality,” she says.
The actress therefore remains aware that the subject of the film “The Red Rooms” is “super sensitive” and touches on sensitive and confrontational issues.
Warm welcome
When Laurie Babin wondered if her proposal would go down well with the public, she got the answer during the film’s world premiere, which took place in the Czech Republic last month.
After the screening, the feature film received critical acclaim and received unanimously positive reviews from local and international media. The reception at the recent North American premiere at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal was just as enthusiastic. “The atmosphere was fantastic! I didn’t know how it would be received because I know it’s not a film for everyone. But let’s just say it gave me confidence for the future,” she says.
The red rooms is currently displayed.