Red Rocket
Khoi Vinh

Review by Khoi Vinh Patron

Red Rocket 2021

★★★★

Watched 18 Oct 2024

Everything in this movie is vibrantly alive in a way that so few films can even dream of being. Director Sean Baker has a godhead talent for eliciting rivetingly naturalistic performances from his actors, blurring the line between professional and nonprofessional performers to the point of irrelevance—everyone in this movie is superb. The script is genuine and hilarious and then—almost without warning but that’s not entirely true because Baker signals it almost from the beginning—it’s mortifying, even horrific in the way Simon Rex’s lovable loser gradually reveals his intentions to groom an underaged partner for sexual exploitation. As ever Baker is unflinching and even unjudging about both sides of this character, which adds so much richness to the narrative. Baker’s brand of humanist filmmaking is one of the most vital voices in film today.

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