Red Lights

Director: Rodrigo Cortés
Screenwriters: Rodrigo Cortés

Institute History

  • 2012 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Two investigators of paranormal hoaxes, the veteran Dr. Margaret Matheson and her young assistant, Tom Buckley, study the most varied metaphysical phenomena with the aim of proving their fraudulent origins. Simon Silver, a legendary blind psychic, reappears after an enigmatic absence of 30 years to become the greatest international challenge to both orthodox science and professional skeptics. Tom starts to develop an intense obsession with Silver, whose magnetism becomes stronger with each new manifestation of inexplicable events. As Tom gets closer to Silver, tension mounts, and his worldview is threatened to its core.

Red Lights is movie magic at its very best. Classically conceived and executed, it is an example of pure cinema, constructed by combining thrillingly meticulous filmmaking with extraordinary performances. Rodrigo Cortés (Buried screened at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival) shrewdly straddles both sides of the paranormal argument, creating an analytical conundrum with passion in its story line. In doing so, he fashions an exhilarating cinematic experience where illusion confronts science, and the truth lies hidden deeply within.

— Trevor Groth

Screening Details

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