Review of Red Lights (2012) by Stevenf — 06 Feb 2013

You see this too many times, a film starting off so well, only to unravel and fall apart so carelessly and predictably at the climax that its difficult to appreciate the film at all, simply because it worsens as the minutes tick on.

The cast was there, Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy and Robert De Niro, but what unfolded was simply muddled and ended up going for cheap thrills over psychological warfare.

We see Dr. Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) quite successfully debunk fraudulent mediums or psychics, doing so through how exactly person in question manages to fool the victim. Why exactly was this not developed upon? This was gripping, interesting, and was a different sort of thrill.

Murphy plays her assistant Tom Buckley, who begins to obsess over investigating Simon Silver (De Niro).

De Niro does have a great screen presence in the film, but it is simply wasted.

What follows is a tale of cheap scare tactics and pointless situations (bathroom fight) that really add up to nothing. It was a real shame to see the film going downhill after quite a mysterious and striking beginning.

If the 'twist' ending wasn't worked out a long time before it happened, I doubt you were watching the same film I was, it was quite clear which direction the plot was taking, only problem being suspenseful films using the same path did it better, like The Illusionist.

With messy cinematography that was more confusing than it was exciting, it all equals out to a disappointing film that had a thought-provoking premise, but just didn't deliver a unique stance or fluid story.