Red Rocket Movie Review

A24 is one of the best studios producing films in Hollywood at the moment. Their output has produced some of my favourite films in recent years with titles such as: 'The Disaster Artist', 'Hereditary', 'Midsommar', 'The Witch', 'The Lighthouse' and 2022's 'Red Rocket'. 'Red Rocket' is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Sean Baker (The Florida Project & Tangerine), tackling the porn industry in this dramedy. Simon Rex plays a washed-up porn star who is out looking for redemption. Baker has a knack for telling real and raw stories, to the backdrop of a real place or in this case industry. Actor Simon Rex also began his acting career in the adult entertainment industry, so he also had experience here. Without hearing too much about this film, knowing that writer/director was helming such a project and Simon Rex was the lead here, I was invested. 

 'Red Rocket' might just be Baker's masterpiece. The film hits all of the right notes, telling a slice of life story full of heart and real, raw emotion. Simon Rex is fantastic as Mikey Saber, giving easily a career best performance. Rex gives a very realistic and grounded performance here, and as someone who hasn't really liked his work before, I thought he was great and would also highly recommend the A24 podcast episode listening to him speak on the film and his personal connection with the role. 

Sean Baker's direction here is raw and unfiltered, which is on-brand for his style of filmmaking. His films in the past have used guerilla-style filmmaking techniques to capture the essence of life, capturing small little moments of realism in a larger story, to give his films an authentic look. It is a great way to tell a story like this as it puts the audience in the thick of the story and the situation. Baker is fantastic at character pieces. 

'Red Rocket' is one of the best films of the year so far. Its equal parts sad as it is endearing. Simon Rex gives a great lead turn here and I hope this sparks an exciting new direction for the actor moving forward. I really liked this one and would recommend it to film fans wanting to watch something a little different. Pick up a copy today from your local Sanity or online.

Buy Red Rocket on DVD here!

Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here