Genre: Drama/Thriller

Director: Andrea Arnold

Certificate: Red Road  was rated 18 by the Irish Film Censor's Office (www.ifco.ie) i.e. suitable for those of 18 years of age or upwards.

Violence = strong. Drugs = mild. Sex/Nudity = strong. Language = strong.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: Red Road

Red Road is a slow burner but a gritty, gripping, and unsettling watch as we see Jackie (Katie Dickie) a CCTV operator working in Glasgow with a seemingly secret past or has she? It's a small world where she almost  protects the people she monitors on a daily basis, she has little in the way of a social life (apart from a weekly romp with a married colleague) and you just  wonder how she has been brought to this point in her life.

However, one day a man she never expected or even wanted to see again pops up on the camera and her life takes a completely different turn, as she is forced to face her fears and confront something extremely painful from her past.

This film was apparently an experiment where the characters were created first and the plot written around them…  It's a creative piece and an intelligent watch but only for those who are prepared to persevere with the sometimes plodding pace.  Personally I felt it was worth it, the characterization is quite brilliant, and even though the subject matter is fairly depressing at the end we have an enlightened and almost positive outcome when ghosts are put to rest and individuals can move on with their lives.  The whole film has an independent look and feel about it, mainly set in one of Glasgow's more run down areas it has a downbeat atmosphere on the whole but it is for creative effect and therefore necessary to the storyline.

Finally, the reasoning behind the story doesn't really become apparent until the final twenty minutes, and Red Road really does keep you interested.  All-in-all I found Red Road intriguing but certainly not for those looking for a light hearted watch.  In a word  -  Enigmatic.

Alerts:

• One explicit sex scene.

• The Glasgow dialect is very strong (unless you have a ear for accents, this may spoil the experience for some)

Reviewed by Mary Kate, Premier Movie Reviews 2007

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• Andrew Armour

WORTH A WATCH