I have mentioned here in the past that I am not that fond of the films released by production company A24 so much in recent times. While the independent company appeared out of nowhere with some interesting hits that made the film industry feel a bit more fresh than it did as the plague of superhero franchise films started to hit the screens, I found their films started to become rather stale and formulaic. These films were good, interesting, and crafted quite well; though they felt rather forgetable, and predictable. They lost their appeal with me rather quickly, and as a result I stopped paying so much attention to the films released under the A24 brand. That said, I can recognise when something is worthy of the praise it receives. Strangely, for a film released under A24's independent wing, I actually have not really heard anything about Red Rocket. The film appears to have entered the world without much of a pop or sizzle as it comes and goes in the similar A24 fashion.
Understandably that might be due to the gritty nature of Red Rocket, where vulgarity and its attempt to shock and sicken and make you feel uncomfortable are forever at the forefront of what it has to offer. It's a film that very much deserves to be named just that: a film. One that is unique, strange, with characters you can neither love nor hate, and a story that makes you question just how this managed to get greenlit. It feels much like a feel that would've been released in the decades prior, being a small release that gains a cult following -- though I suspect that might even be the case as time passes and more discover the film. And I hope that is the case, because even with its vulgarity and strangeness it is a film that is fresh, with incredible performances and some truly beautiful cinematography. It's an idea among an industry seemingly void of ideas.
Red Rocket
Actor Simon Rex -- some of you may recognise from the days of Scary Movie, in this instance, the film Scary Movie 3 as the hardened clown that portrays a caricature of 8 Mile's early Eminem -- appears out of nowhere to deliver an incredible performance as a washed-up former male pornstar that has hit a new low, returning from Los Angeles with nothing to his name to his former-but-still-current wife and her mother in a decayed town in Texas. With no money to his name, no job, and not even a method of transportation, he attempts to rebuild his life and return to his glory days through acts of continuous desperation and schemes.
Rex's performance as Mikey Saber was one that completely surprised me. Pulling off a character that is slimy and constantly trying to bend people to his will in order to get something he needs, but somehow being quite enjoyable to watch. There's something about the character's writing and the performance which portrays him as someone that is simply disgusting, but somehow he grows on you, being someone that has a particular aura that can still make you laugh despite annoying everyone else. And this is particularly how the film portrays him: annoying. Everyone in this small town in Texas utterly despises Mikey, refusing to have him around even for a few minutes. It sets up this structure of slowly giving the audience pieces of character development as context that allows us to see more of who he was before he left, and why everyone hates him to this day.
A protagonist that is highly unlikeable and downright creepy is precisely what pushes the film's narrative forward. It's difficult to not entirely hate the character, but you find a guilty pleasure in watching the endless awkward moments he gets himself into and seeing how he manages to squeeze his way out of rising tensions and scenarios; he's constantly lying to people and trying to get people on his side, and for the most part it works due to his near refusal to accept rejection. Every attempt at getting something is met with begging, stating that things are only temporary, and that he's just hitting a low moment in life and needs a little help to bounce back -- that there's always this upcoming return to success in the adult film industry just waiting to happen for him.
As you can expect, things don't quite turn out as he states they will, and it is evident why people despise him and we see the many desperate attempts he takes to fix things and come out on top, even going as far as manipulating those younger than him in attempt to go from performer to agent with the intentions of running out of Texas and back to Los Angeles with this newfound 'talent' he's discovered.
Visually beautiful and captivating
While the decayed urban sprawl of Texas shows its lack of beauty, even so in the many people featured in the film, Red Rocket is visually beautiful. The film appears to have been shot on anamorphic lenses which produces a very oval bokeh when it comes to background separation through depth-of-field. This is something I always love to see, as a massive fan of anamorphic, very stretched-out perspectives through wide angle lenses. Though this is amplified by the use of an Arriflex 16 SR3 camera! I've worked with these cameras before, and they're an incredible 16mm film format camera that produces utterly beautiful images with the right film stock.
Red Rocket uses a particular film stock that is incredibly vibrant, the film is full of beautiful colours that counters the gritty nature of a decayed Texas, and promotes more gentle tones and highlights alongside the lighter colour use from the art department. I really enjoyed this, actually. The colours of the film next to the use of 16mm film go together perfectly, and the use of 16mm film stock in a feature film is a rarity as it is! I found myself paying so much attention to the interiors in particular, the ways the lighting rolls off into shadows as well as the colour palette somewhat reminded me of the new wave Hong Kong films I adore: shades of blue and purple, yellow and green.
There's an interesting point to be made regarding the colours and how they represent the prior glamour and success Mikey had, and while he still believes he's part of such success and glamour still, he's in fact surrounded by the dirty, the run-down and decayed, the messy castaways of society of which he now belongs to as much as he'd like to believe otherwise. These uses of colour display his delusions that he can bounce back no matter how bad things get for him; ultimately we see the colourful optimism of his mind and his perception of the life he now lives.
Even if this is my own perception of the film, I find it works very well. It's a film that pulls you in and gives you reasons to dislike and like the protagonist, utilising character development in a way that ultimately isn't trying to tell you anything more than what it needs to about these characters, even when the rest of them barely even look like actors. Though Sean Baker is known for casting people in his films that aren't even professional actors.
This made me appreciate the film much more, knowing I had very little knowledge of who these actors were or whether I had seen them before allowed me to see their performances as more authentic and unique to this individual film. In turn, this even supported the film's comedic elements, adding to the strangeness of the film's characters and story.