Psychic thriller a film of two halves

Red Lights (15)
Review rating***
Red Lights is a smart, engaging thriller that starts promisingly, but rapidly runs out of steam. Its director, Rodrigo Cortés, made his name with the 2010 film Buried, a tense little story about a man who is buried alive, and which is shot almost entirely within the confines of a casket. With Red Lights, Cortés expands his canvas to depict the shadowy world of professional psychics.
Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy star as two sceptical academics who have made it their task to expose fraudulent mediums. However, their resolve is tested when they encounter the sinister and enigmatic Simon Silver (played by Robert de Niro). Silver has recently emerged from retirement following a bizarre incident decades earlier in which one of his most vocal detractors unexpectedly died during one of his shows. As the two investigators examine Silver’s purported ‘gifts’, their rationalist confidence is shaken.
Easily the film’s strongest scenes are to be found in the first act, with Weaver and Murphy briskly debunking the false claims of the various hacks they encounter. I particularly enjoyed the first scene, featuring a couple who are convinced of the presence of a poltergeist in their new home. The two investigators quickly discover that the mysterious bumps and rumblings in the house are not supernatural in origin; instead the couple’s precocious, and very homesick, daughter is deliberately moving the furniture to try and scare her parents into returning to their old house.
I liked the way Cortés was able to introduce a human element into his explanation of events; an explanation that in no way reduced one’s interest in the scene, but merely replaced a paranormal drama with an emotional one.
Red Lights is unable to sustain this strong beginning, however. After the first hour, in which Weaver and Murphy explain the fascinating and ingenious tricks employed by unscrupulous psychics, the film flags rather badly. I felt the film lost the courage of its rationalist convictions, and began rather chunkily adjusting its narrative trajectory in order to create an irritating ‘twist’ ending. It loses much of its earlier intelligence in the process, and things reach something of an impasse in the final act with the inclusion of an exceptionally violent and pointless fight scene set in a men’s room.
There are also a few false notes among the performances. Robert de Niro is uncharacteristically dull as the antagonist, and Craig Roberts’ first stab at an American accent needs a little work. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Olsen is relegated to the unrewarding role of sappy love-interest, seemingly tagging along for the ride. Joely Richardson is quite good fun as Silver’s passive-aggressive personal assistant, and Weaver and Murphy do their best in the lead roles, but it’s not enough to carry the picture.
Overall, Red Lights is a taut and sometimes intriguing thriller, badly let down by an inconsistent second half. Despite some strong writing in the early scenes, and a few well-crafted directorial jolts from Cortés, this film feels like a missed opportunity, and something of a misstep by the promising young director.