Pascal Plante’s Les Chambres Rouges—or Red Rooms if you’re catching it in English-speaking markets—is one of those movies that sticks to your ribs like cold grease. It’s deeply uncomfortable. It’s cold. It’s sleek. But honestly, the reason it works isn't just the techno-thriller vibe or the dread-soaked score. It’s the cast of Les Chambres Rouges and how they manage to play characters who feel like they’re vibrating on a different frequency than the rest of us.
You’ve got Juliette Gariépy playing Kelly-Anne, a model who spends her nights sleeping on a balcony and her days obsessively attending the trial of a man accused of murdering teenage girls on the dark web. It’s a bizarre role. She’s gorgeous but feels fundamentally broken or maybe just “other.” If the acting wasn't pitch-perfect, the whole movie would probably feel like a silly creepypasta. Instead, it feels like a documentary about a nightmare.
The unsettling brilliance of Juliette Gariépy as Kelly-Anne
Kelly-Anne is a cypher. Most of the time, Gariépy’s face is a mask of high-fashion indifference. You’re constantly trying to figure out if she’s a victim, a voyeur, or something way more dangerous. Gariépy, who wasn't exactly a household name before this, carries almost every frame of the film.
She’s a poker player. Literally. The movie shows her winning big in online poker, which is a perfect metaphor for her character—she knows how to hide her hand. When she stares at Ludovic Chevalier (the accused killer) in the courtroom, it’s not with the disgust the other families show. It’s something else. A weird kind of devotion? Or maybe a competitive urge to see who is the real predator? Gariépy’s performance is all in the eyes. She barely blinks. It’s a physical feat that makes you want to look away while keeping you totally locked in.
What’s wild is how she handles the "Red Room" sequences. We never actually see the worst of the snuff films—the movie is too smart for that—but we see her reaction to them. The way her skin seems to crawl or her pupils dilate tells you everything the camera refuses to show. It’s a masterclass in restraint.
Laurie Babin and the desperate reality of Clementine
Then you have Laurie Babin. She plays Clementine, the "groupie" who befriends Kelly-Anne outside the courthouse. If Kelly-Anne is ice, Clementine is an open, weeping wound. She’s the character we’ve all seen in true crime documentaries—the person who becomes convinced a serial killer is innocent because they’ve "seen his soul" or some other nonsense.
Babin plays this with zero judgment. You don't hate Clementine, even though you want to shake her. You just feel this profound, heavy pity. She’s vulnerable. She’s clearly looking for a connection in the worst possible place. The chemistry between Gariépy and Babin is fascinating because it’s so one-sided. Clementine thinks she’s found a best friend; Kelly-Anne looks at her like a scientist looking at a bug.
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There is one specific scene where Clementine tries to defend Chevalier to the victims' families. It’s painful. Babin’s voice cracks, her posture is defensive, and you realize she’s not a villain—she’s just lost. The cast of Les Chambres Rouges really shines here because it highlights the two different ways people obsess over true crime: the intellectual, cold obsession and the emotional, misguided one.
Maxwell McCabe-Lokos: The monster behind the glass
Ludovic Chevalier is played by Maxwell McCabe-Lokos. He’s the guy in the glass box. Honestly, he doesn't have a lot of lines. He doesn't need them. His presence is a vacuum that sucks the air out of the courtroom.
McCabe-Lokos has this specific look—gaunt, hollowed-out, but with a terrifying stillness. He looks like he could be a monster or he could be a nobody. That’s the point. The film plays with the idea of the "banality of evil." He’s not a mustache-twirling villain. He’s a guy who might have done something so horrific the human brain struggles to process it, yet he just sits there.
The interaction—or lack thereof—between him and the lead actress is the spine of the film. When Kelly-Anne dresses up to look like one of the victims just to get a reaction from him, the look McCabe-Lokos gives her is chilling. It’s the only time he seems "alive," and it’s for the worst reason imaginable.
Supporting players and the atmosphere of the court
The rest of the cast fills out a world that feels incredibly clinical.
- Elisabeth Locas plays Francine Beaulieu, the mother of one of the victims. Her performance is the anchor of reality. When she breaks down, it reminds the audience (and Kelly-Anne) that these aren't just "files" or "videos." These were children.
- Natalie Tannous plays the judge, and she brings this weary, bureaucratic weight to the proceedings. She represents a justice system that is trying to stay dignified while dealing with the literal dregs of humanity.
- Pierre Leblanc and the various lawyers provide that dry, legalistic background noise that makes the courtroom scenes feel so authentic.
The casting director, Marilyse Turgeon, clearly went for faces that felt "real" rather than "Hollywood." You believe these people live in Montreal. You believe they’re freezing in the Canadian winter. You believe they’re exhausted by the trial.
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Why the acting in Red Rooms feels different
Most thrillers want you to scream. Les Chambres Rouges wants you to shiver. The cast of Les Chambres Rouges was directed to be internal. Pascal Plante (the director) reportedly had the actors focus on micro-expressions.
In a lot of movies about the dark web, everything is over-the-top. Hackers wear hoodies in dark basements with green code scrolling everywhere. Here, Kelly-Anne lives in a high-rise condo that looks like an Apple Store. She’s organized. She’s clean. The acting reflects this. It’s precise. When Kelly-Anne finally has a breakdown—or a breakthrough, depending on how you see the ending—it hits like a freight train because the rest of the performance was so controlled.
The technicality of the performances
There’s a lot of talk about the "long takes" in this movie. Some scenes go on for minutes without a cut. For an actor, that’s a nightmare unless you’re incredibly prepared. Gariépy has to maintain a specific level of tension for ten minutes straight while the camera just hangs on her face.
The sound design helps, too. The actors had to compete with a score that sounds like grinding metal and low-frequency humming. They don't over-act to compensate. They stay quiet. They stay small. It makes the viewer lean in. You’re straining to hear them, straining to see what they’re thinking. It’s an immersive experience that wouldn't work with "loud" acting.
What this cast says about our obsession with the macabre
Let's get real for a second. Why are we so obsessed with the cast of Les Chambres Rouges and movies like this? It’s because they hold up a mirror.
Kelly-Anne is a version of the "true crime" junkie taken to the absolute extreme. We watch these people on screen and wonder where the line is. The cast does a brilliant job of showing the different layers of that obsession.
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- The Denier: Clementine, who refuses to believe the evidence because she wants to feel special.
- The Professional: The lawyers and judges who have to look at the horror every day and somehow eat lunch afterward.
- The Grieved: The families who are stuck in a loop of trauma.
- The Cypher: Kelly-Anne, who might be looking for justice, or might just be looking for the ultimate thrill.
Actionable insights for viewers and filmmakers
If you’re planning on watching Les Chambres Rouges, or if you’ve already seen it and you’re trying to process what the hell you just witnessed, keep these things in mind:
- Watch the background. In the courtroom scenes, pay attention to the extras and the minor characters. The way they react to the evidence being read is a study in human discomfort.
- Listen to the silence. The cast uses silence as a weapon. Notice how many scenes have zero dialogue but tell a complete story through body language.
- Don't look for a hero. This isn't that kind of movie. The cast isn't playing "good guys" and "bad guys." They’re playing people caught in a very dark orbit.
- Research Pascal Plante’s process. If you’re a filmmaker, look into how he worked with Juliette Gariépy to create the character of Kelly-Anne. He gave her very little backstory, forcing her to build the character’s internal world from scratch. This is why she feels so mysterious—even the actress was discovering her in real-time.
The cast of Les Chambres Rouges delivers one of the most cohesive and haunting ensemble performances in recent memory. It’s not a "fun" watch, but it’s an essential one for anyone interested in how acting can convey the unspeakable.
If you want to dive deeper, check out the interviews with Juliette Gariépy where she talks about the physical toll of playing Kelly-Anne. She mentions the exhaustion of maintaining that level of "stillness" for weeks on end. It’s a reminder that great acting isn't just about saying lines; it’s about what you do when you aren't saying anything at all.
To wrap this up, the best way to appreciate what this cast did is to re-watch the opening scene. Look at the way they’re arranged in the courtroom. It’s like a painting. Every person represents a different facet of how society handles horror. No one is comfortable. No one is safe. And that’s exactly how the movie wants you to feel.
Next Steps for the True Crime Cinephile
- Compare and Contrast: Watch The Deliberate Stranger or Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Compare how those "groupie" characters are portrayed versus Laurie Babin’s Clementine. You’ll notice Les Chambres Rouges is much less interested in sensationalism and much more interested in the pathetic reality of that kind of devotion.
- Check the Awards: Keep an eye on the Iris Awards (Prix Iris) in Quebec. The cast swept several categories for a reason. Watching the acceptance speeches (if you can find them) gives a great glimpse into how different the actors are from their chilling on-screen personas.
- Support Indie Cinema: Movies like this survive on word of mouth. If the performances moved you, tell someone—but maybe warn them that it's a "tough watch" first.
The film is a stark reminder that the most terrifying things aren't ghosts or monsters; they’re the people sitting next to us in a room, watching the same screen, and seeing something completely different than what we see.