In Red Lights is an action packed physiological thriller, that had me drawn in from the start;
Cillian Murphy, Robert De Niro and Sigourney Weaver star in Rodrigo Courtés’s latest masterpiece. Margaret Matheson, a lecturer and her assistant Tom Buckley research events of mysterious paranormal activity in a bid to find out if any of it actually exists. Will their questions ever get answered, or will the emotional journey get the best of them?
I had such high hopes for this film, and my expectations were most definitely met. The narrative was very interesting and had me hooked at all times with the dark twists and turns, and an emotional end. Although I enjoyed the film, at times I found it hard to take it seriously due to it being a tad over dramatic.
The casting for Red Lights was amazing. Seeing Cillian Murphy acting alongside higher profile actors, considering he is usually in lower budget films, was brilliant. Murphy’s performance was flawless and at times kept the film from going too over the top, for example the first time we see him as Buckley at the beginning of the film.You watch Tom Buckley’s relationship blossom with Sally Owen, played by Elizabeth Olsen as the film goes on and see how they keep each other going through all of their barriers, adding more emotion to the film.Sigourney Weaver as Matherson was another character I was impressed with. As we follow Margaret Matherson through the film we see that through her hard exterior she has an incredibly emotional life, which adds to her character as a strong woman. I don’t think there could be a better person to play Matherson, Sigourney Weaver films the roll perfectly.Robert De Niro, the biggest name in Red Lights played our antagonist, Simon Silver. Again, I thought he was a brilliant choice for the roll, adding star power to the film and an intense powerful character.Another less well known actor which I was happy to see in the film was Craig Roberts, who starred in Richard Ayoade’s ‘Submarine’. He played a small, but affective roll within the film.
The visuals within Red Lights were also a strong point of the film. All the way through there was a fairly tense vibe, which made you jump even more, and of course the epic prosthetics and effects at the crescendo of the film.
Red Lights was most definitely impressive, filled to the brim with a brilliant cast and narrative and it’s guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat!
