Red Lights
Wellspring Media | Release Date: August 20, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
2
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Strange, scary, and atmospheric, with a delicious Claude Debussy score. Read full review
90
VarietyLeslie Felperin
Splendidly sinuous twister Red Lights sees Gallic helmer Cedric Kahn ("Roberto Succo") take his game to the next level with this inky comic thriller. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The brilliant, sinister French thriller Red Lights is a twisty road movie in which every sign points toward catastrophe. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Taut, atmospheric, impeccably made psychological thriller. Read full review
90
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It conforms to that twisted French genius's typical opus: grisly, ironic but minuscule and sordid. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Darroussin is killer good and director Cedric Kahn turns Georges Simenon's seminal novel into a darkly comic spellbinder that pins you to your seat. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
One of the best thrillers I have seen this year: tight, taut, and unpredictable. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Cedric Kahn has caught the irrational compulsion, nail-biting tension and unpredictability of plot that is Simenon at his best. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It evokes the spirit of Hitchcock and Highsmith. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
A classy and clever French thriller. Jean-Pierre Darroussin's performance as a browbeaten husband is entertaining, and Kahn's script brings wit and imagination to a straightforward story. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
With ruthless efficiency and wit, Kahn ratchets up unbearable tension and releases it in startlingly visceral fashion, but his placid denouement is the most chilling scene of all. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
A satisfyingly well-wrought, old-school thriller: Character drives the plot, literally. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
The true mystery, Red Lights' real thrill ride -- and what seems to interest Kahn most, despite his skill at arranging the trappings of suspense -- is marriage. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Red Lights is the most ambiguously compelling romance around. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid Parkinson
Accomplished and assured. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The sights, sounds and traffic in Red Lights are oppressively ordinary; the people are unnervingly real. That reality doubles the suspense we might feel in a more slickly made but thinly plotted thriller. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Somewhat leisurely paced, by American standards, especially in the beginning, but it's well worth sticking around for the payoff. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The movie's clever ambiguity allows a number of interpretations. Perhaps it is all a dream, a parable, or a combination of wishful thinking and reality. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
An eerily affecting domestic drama combining elements of "The Lost Weekend'' with "Lost Highway.'' Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Delightfully creepy suspenser. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Red Lights is actually an examination of marriage -- of what keeps people together long after the passion has fizzled, and all that's left is bitterness and resentment. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Director Cedric Kahn, Laurence Ferreira Barbosa, and Gilles Marchand collaborated on the well-honed script, derived from a Georges Simenon novel. The film works well with quiet tensions, but becomes less convincing and interesting once it moves beyond them. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
More reminiscent of Hitchcock's progeny than of the master's own films, Cedric Kahn's intelligently menacing thriller combines Brian DePalma's sexy style with the ice-cold cool tone of Claude Chabrol and the sense of mounting panic George Sluizer exploited in "The Vanishing." Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The slowness of the film's first half will be off-putting to many, but the film's turns and final twist will reward the patient. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Primarily a one-man show for Darroussin, and the actor, a longtime pro in the French film industry, comes through with a scarifyingly believable portrayal. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Before it turns into a thriller, and goes badly awry, Red Lights paints a devastating little portrait of a marriage on the rocks. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
The film, like the cheap double-scotches quaffed down by the central character, leaves a distinctly sour aftertaste that's hard to wash away the morning after. Read full review
30
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
It plays like a parody of suspense movies, then occasionally becomes serious, then boring, then makes a jarring 180, then frustrates, then gets vaguely interesting again. Read full review
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