Red Lights film review

Firstly, it both confuses me and somewhat upsets me, that this film is sitting not so pretty with an average of 2.7 stars (at time of writing this), and a wide collection of very negative reviews. I think this was a great effort at a psychological film (not necessarily saying it was a great film), I wouldn’t go too far towards saying it’s a thriller, but it definitely toys with you.

This really wasn’t a bad film. Did it have flaws? Yes, of course it did but when don’t films? Just because a film isn’t great, doesn’t mean it’s bad.

Cillian Murphy’s performance alone pushes it above the levels of a bad film. Not to mention the cinematography, and in my opinion oh so clever twist. But, I do feel something key was missing.

From reading a great number of reviews submitted for this film, it’s clear to see a lot of the criticism is directed at the endings twist. I can see why some may not be in favour of it, it arguably is a little ‘mehhhh’.

But, I’ll tell you one thing. I definitely didn’t see it coming, and it definitely held my surprise afterwards. I think what let down the build up to the twist, was the reveal of Silver’s (Robert De Niro) master plan. Now that was meh.

As for the films suspense, and intensity levels. They never really peaked, they never truly grabbed hold of me, and drew me in. This is why I wouldn’t stretch to calling this a thriller, more like a psychological drama (if that’s even a thing). What I did like about this films suspense however, was its clever play on slight of hand. They had you focused, and thinking all about Silver. How is he doing it? Will he get caught? When in fact the real trick, was starring you right in the face with Tom. I may not have been on the edge of my seat, but I was invested.

It saddens me to say, that Robert De Niro was definitely sub par in this performance. Not that he was bad, just nothing stood out as special for me. However, simply his presence in this film demanded a higher quality from his counterparts, and thankfully a number lived up to that.

What truly carried this film to a higher standard, was the casting of Cillian Murphy as the lead. I’ve always been a fan of his work, ranging from Peaky Blinders, to the Dark Knight series, or even Red Eye. His charisma when playing an over excitable, and often reckless role is something to revel in. The helping hands of Sigourney Weaver, and Elizabeth Olsen, meant that Murphy got just the right situations and environment to perform at his best.

Although, there we’re definitely negatives to this film, and the fact I can’t shake this feeling of something missing, it was still a good attempt. If you are after a psychological film, that will make you question things from the outset, whilst also having a nice easy feel to it, then check this out.

Hours later, and I am still thinking about the ending. This is the main reason, for the three and a half stars. It is a clever film, and that’s all I’ll end with.

3.5* 7/10

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