Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Gritty tale of slum life; language, sex, violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
RedLife
What's the Story?
In REDLIFE, Som (Sydney Supitcha) is a high school girl whose mom (Pou Krongthong) hasn't paid tuition for six semesters. Som hides from her wealthy classmates the fact that she lives in a Bangkok motel where her aging mom turns tricks to put food on the table. Ter (Bank Thiti) is a hapless hothead who helps a street gang mug and beat passersby in order to steal their money and cell phones. He loves Mild, also a sex worker, and struggles with jealousy of her clients. All want to rise out of poverty and Som's mom sees her daughter's education as the route. When Som's mom agrees to live in the fancy home of an elderly client, she manages to borrow enough from him to pay tuition, but Som spends the money on air tickets to Korea, where she wants to go with her new girlfriend, the posh but flaky Peach. Eventually, Ter's gang targets the rich elderly man and after they break into his place, violent tragedy ensues.
Is It Any Good?
This is a heartfelt story artlessly told. The filmmakers seem fuzzy on how to convey the passage of time, how to place the audience in the action, provide narrative context, or connect the plight of various unrelated characters to each other. Sometimes actions of one character are deliberately intercut with the actions of a seemingly unconnected character to add to the confusion. It's hard to know why two female teens making love is closely intercut with a man stealing a car, and maniacally driving through a police barricade into a canal. Is he hurt? Killed? Next time we see him, he's in a train and we have no idea how much time has passed until someone tells us that months ago he had been arrested, convicted, and jailed. Loose threads are never tied up. Money disappears. Where did it go?
A good movie could have been made about poverty and despair, but these technical flaws and many others drain the movie of any possible meaning and make this feel like a random series of scenes that add up to nothing.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the way that both the mother resents the daughter for not appreciating how hard she works and the daughter resents the mother for being a sex worker. How does the movie suggest how that dynamic will affect the rest of the daughter's life?
How does Ter connect to Som dramatically? Is a coherent connection provided or are these stories just parallel tales of struggle?
How could the film have been made to be more emotionally involving?
Movie Details
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