Red Lights follows two scientists who expose paranormal hoaxers the likes of Uri Geller or John Edwards. Their faith in their ability to disprove these frauds is tested when when they come up against paranormal celebrity, Simon Silver (played perfectly by DeNiro in one of the few roles where I've ever seen him play, um, not DeNiro). Silver seems to possess some genuinely inexplicable talents. Is he the real deal? And more to the point, is he dangerous or even deadly to those who try to expose him?
Reading through some of the other reviews on Red Lights has left me shaking my head in wonder. A 'twist that doesn't make sense' say a few of them, and that's complete hogwash. The twist here makes perfect sense, and it's genius in that it reflects the entire film in a different light. It makes you go all the way back to the beginning and re-examine everything you saw - everything a character said, every motivation, every occurrence - from a completely different perspective.
Remember when you saw 'Fight Club' and the penny finally dropped as to what was going on and, if you're anything like me, you said to yourself "that's awesome!"? I'd go as far as to say Red Lights is even better than that, because the twist is not only cleverer, but it's also left right until the last scenes; whereas in Fight Club, most folks figured it out about halfway through.
Don't worry by the way, the twist isn't the same as the one in Fight Club. The only reason I make that analogy is because, like Fight Club, this twist had me grinning from ear-to-ear because it actually got me... and not many do.
Red Lights was one of those films that I hadn't heard of before and selected solely on the strength of its cast. I was not disappointed. The fact that one person wrote, directed and edited all this is almost as amazing as the powers of Simon Silver himself. It was a brilliantly structured, wildly intelligent ride along the boundaries between the fraudulent and the real. It's the most underrated film I've ever come across on IMDb. I'd recommend it to anyone who is fascinated by the ongoing battle between skeptics and believers, and to anyone who enjoys a well-directed, engaging thriller with an ending you will never see coming.
Reading through some of the other reviews on Red Lights has left me shaking my head in wonder. A 'twist that doesn't make sense' say a few of them, and that's complete hogwash. The twist here makes perfect sense, and it's genius in that it reflects the entire film in a different light. It makes you go all the way back to the beginning and re-examine everything you saw - everything a character said, every motivation, every occurrence - from a completely different perspective.
Remember when you saw 'Fight Club' and the penny finally dropped as to what was going on and, if you're anything like me, you said to yourself "that's awesome!"? I'd go as far as to say Red Lights is even better than that, because the twist is not only cleverer, but it's also left right until the last scenes; whereas in Fight Club, most folks figured it out about halfway through.
Don't worry by the way, the twist isn't the same as the one in Fight Club. The only reason I make that analogy is because, like Fight Club, this twist had me grinning from ear-to-ear because it actually got me... and not many do.
Red Lights was one of those films that I hadn't heard of before and selected solely on the strength of its cast. I was not disappointed. The fact that one person wrote, directed and edited all this is almost as amazing as the powers of Simon Silver himself. It was a brilliantly structured, wildly intelligent ride along the boundaries between the fraudulent and the real. It's the most underrated film I've ever come across on IMDb. I'd recommend it to anyone who is fascinated by the ongoing battle between skeptics and believers, and to anyone who enjoys a well-directed, engaging thriller with an ending you will never see coming.