Take a middle-aged, bickering long married couple, put them in a tiny car, make the driver drunk out of his mind, add some horrendous summer traffic, and a deranged killer escaped from jail, and you've got Cédric Kahn's "Red Lights." I recommend this movie to no one.
Jean-Pierre Darroussin (Antoine Dunant) and Carole Bouquet (Hélène Dunant) have appeared in over 100 French films combined. They are more than capable actors; and the tension between in the car is terrifically unpleasant to watch. So much so that I felt as if I was already watching a horror film before the put-up husband stopped in a bar for his third double whiskey.
When Antoine emerges, his wife is gone, leaving a note that she has decided to catch the train to his destination. She has the unfortunate luck of meeting the deranged killer. As chance has it, so does Antoine. Both characters are traumatized by their individual experience, but the film suggests, that perhaps a little catastrophe – Antoine, (onscreen) being held at gun point and Hélène getting raped (fortunately this happens off-screen) will bring this couple closer together. Couples therapy would have been less painful.
The screenplay is based on the novel by Georges Simenon. Claude Debussy's beautiful "Nocturnes" plays as shots of traffic fill the screen.
