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RED LIGHTS Send This Review to a Friend
Tension is thick in this suspenseful drama in which a couple sitting in a car and motoring along a road at night can stir audience anxiety. “Red Lights” involves a couple setting off on a holiday with plans to pick up the children from camp. Marital strain is apparent from the start, but the husband and wife don’t know what terror awaits them.
Jean-Pierre Darroussin plays Antoine, who drinks too much and is upset when his wife is late for their after-work rendezvous to start the journey. When she does arrive he sees her with another man from his seat at a café. The ever-beautiful Carole Bouquet plays Hélène, the wife, and she is annoyed at her husband’s bad mood. Antoine stops for drinks along the way and pressure between them builds.
Tension increases from his driving under the influence. At one point, Hélène threatens to take the train. Antoine stops at a roadside joint, and when he emerges, his wife has disappeared. He now begins a race with the train to catch up with her. Antoine gives a lift to a stranger, who just may be a wanted man.
What has happened to Antoine’s wife? He can’t find her and the mystery deepens until he learns some shocking news. All the while, he is balancing his search with the need to calm the waiting children. The film, based on a George Simenon novel and directed by Cédric Kahn, works well until the ending, which is annoying in the way in the way it glosses over serious issues. But apart from that, “Red Lights” is well-acted, tautly directed and an entertaining diversion. A Wellspring release.
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