Red Lights (2012)

Director:

Rodrigo Cortés

Writer:

Rodrigo Cortés (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 March 2012 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

How much do you want to believe?

Plot:

Psychologist Margaret Matheson and her assistant study paranormal activity, which leads them to investigate a world-renowned psychic who has resurfaced years after his toughest critic mysteriously passed away.

Plot Keywords:

Psychic | Skeptic | Physicist | Fraud | Breaking A Mirror

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Cillian Murphy	...	Tom Buckley
Sigourney Weaver	...	Margaret Matheson
Robert De Niro	...	Simon Silver
Toby Jones	...	Paul Shackleton
Joely Richardson	...	Monica Hansen
Elizabeth Olsen	...	Sally Owen
Craig Roberts	...	Ben
Leonardo Sbaraglia	...	Leonard Palladino
Adriane Lenox	...	Rina
Garrick Hagon	...	Howard McColm
Burn Gorman	...	Benedict Cohen
Mitchell Mullen	...	Jim Carroll
Nathan Osgood	...	Michael Sidgwick
Madeleine Potter	...	Sarah Sidgwick
Eloise Webb	...	Susan Sidgwick
Jeany Spark	...	Traci Northrop
Jan Cornet	...	David Matheson
Robert G. Slade	...	Interviewer - 70's
Eugenio Mira	...	Young Simon Silver
Lynn Blades	...	Dana
Eben Young	...	Dick
Becci Gemmell	...	Lucy Marconi
Jee-Yun Lee	...	Fiona Stewart (as Jee Yun Lee)
Emma Reynolds	...	Female Reporter #1
Karen David	...	Female Reporter #2
Molly Malcolm	...	Female Reporter #3
Peter Brooke	...	Male Reporter #1
Robert Paterson	...	Male Reporter #2
Jason Lewis	...	Male Reporter #3
Jeff Mash	...	Male Reporter #4
Liliana Cabal	...	Female Reporter - SPRC
Harris Gordon	...	Female Reporter - SPRC
Ignacio Carreño	...	Man in the Bathroom (as Ignacio Carreño López)
Josette Simon	...	Corrine
Carlos Bermúdez Sagrera	...	Stevie
Anselmo Cuesta	...	Stevie's Father
Grant Russell	...	Pilot
Patricia Potter	...	Female Doctor
Bola Olubowale	...	Bodyguard
Simon Lee Phillips	...	Standing Spectator
Anna Dorca	...	Katia Novkova
Gina Bramhill	...	Judi Cale
Joel Vigo	...	Richard Vargas
Jajube Mandiela	...	Girl with Piercings
Jesse Bostick	...	Guy
Roscoe van Dyke	...	Biker
Paulette Sinclair	...	Woman in Wheel-Chair
Jean Daigle	...	Sally's Father
Ann Turnbull	...	Sally's Mother
Eric Loren	...	Policeman
Max Hausmann	...	Doctor Campbell
Julius Cotter	...	Dr. Jennings
Mercé Vidal	...	Doctor Heynes
Miquel Bordoy	...	Professor Franklin
Benjamin Nathan-Serio	...	Student in Magna Room
Markus Parilo	...	Notebook Man (as Markus Parillo)
Kathy Imrie	...	Indigent Woman
Howard Swinson	...	Old Man on the Bench
Larissa Bouvier	...	Teenager on the Bench
Syd Mostow	...	Martin Weiner
Brian Lehane	...	Psychic Surgery Patient
Aidan Shipley	...	Tom's Soldier Son
Wendy Boyd	...	45-year-old Sally
Anna Ferguson	...	Older Sally
Xavier Capdet	...	Beadle
Alicia Caycho	...	Maria Vargas
Clelia Bain	...	Dorina Vargas
Richard Felix	...	Man in Bathroom #1
Joshua Zamrycki	...	Man in Bathroom #2
Óscar Rodríguez	...	Decoy
Lex Lang	...	Presenter #1
Bridget Hoffman	...	Radio Duo Female Voice (voice)
Rif Hutton	...	Radio Duo Male Voice (voice)
Grant George	...	Presenter #2
Angelina Wahler	...	Susan Sidgwick (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Simon Brading	...	Silver's Assistant (uncredited)
Pablo Derqui	...	David (uncredited)
Nikol Kollars	...	Lab Telekinesis Scientist (uncredited)
Jack Queralt	...	Journalist (uncredited)
Jean Claude Ricquebourg	...	Simon Silver's Assistant (uncredited)

Directed by
Rodrigo Cortés

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rodrigo Cortés		screenplay

Produced by
Rodrigo Cortés	....	producer
Cindy Cowan	....	executive producer
Sara Giles	....	associate producer
Adrián Guerra	....	producer
Manuel Monzón	....	co-producer
Jordi Muñoz	....	assistant producer
Toni Novella	....	line producer
Christina Piovesan	....	co-producer
Lisa Wilson	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Víctor Reyes

Cinematography by
Xavi Giménez

Film Editing by
Rodrigo Cortés

Casting by
Ronna Kress

Production Design by
Antón Laguna

Art Direction by
Edward Bonutto

Set Decoration by
Rob Hepburn		(Toronto)

Costume Design by
Patricia Monné

Makeup Department
Caitlin Acheson	....	key makeup artist
Raúl Cabanell	....	assistant makeup artist
Ana Lozano	....	makeup department
Jesús Martos	....	personal hair stylist
Jordi Morera	....	special makeup effects artist: DDT SFX Crew
Eva Quilez	....	dailies makeup artist

Production Management
Daniel Bekerman	....	production manager: Toronto
Verónica Díaz	....	production manager
Chris Pavoni	....	assistant production manager: Toronto
Federico Rozadillas	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Patrick Arias	....	first assistant director: Toronto
Nacho Cerdà	....	second unit director
Luis Cordero	....	second assistant director
Anna González	....	third assistant director
Patrick Hagarty	....	second assistant director: Toronto
Jorge Lareau	....	trainee assistant director
Norma Massip	....	trainee assistant director
Antonio Ordóñez	....	first assistant director
Javier Rodríguez	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Stefano Crem	....	set dresser
Silvia Crivillers	....	property master
Carlos de la Sotilla	....	storyboard artist
Verónica García	....	art department assistant
Héctor Gil	....	property master
Veronica Gutierrez Gomez	....	assistant painter
Mauro Lacaprara	....	props
Diana Marzal	....	assistant property master
Oriol Roset	....	assistant property master
Oscar Troitiño	....	head painter

Sound Department
Biel Cabré	....	boom operator
Rubén Carregal	....	foley recordist
Manuel Carrión	....	foley artist
Pol Fernández	....	cable person
Ofer Geva	....	boom operator
Álvaro de Iscar	....	foley mixer
Albert Manera	....	sound mixer
Jose A. Manovel	....	sound re-recording mixer
James Muñoz	....	sound designer
James Muñoz	....	sound effects editor
Rick Penn	....	sound mixer
Josep Prieto	....	sound recording

Special Effects by
Anthony S. Ciccarelli	....	special effects technician
Javier Jal	....	special effects technician
Jordi Morera	....	special effects makeup: DDT SFX Crew
Raquel Munuera	....	special effects makeup: DDT SFX Crew
Pablo Perona Navarro	....	special effects makeup: DDT SFX Crew
Marcos Sagasta	....	special effects technician: DDT sfx

Visual Effects by
Llorenç Borràs	....	digital compositor
Carlos de la Sotilla	....	digital compositor
Roberto García	....	digital compositor
David Vico López	....	digital compositor
Àlex Villagrasa	....	lead compositor
Àlex Villagrasa	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Rene Bishop	....	stunt double: Cillian Murphy
Eric Bryson	....	stunt coordinator
Ignacio Carreño	....	stunt coordinator
Eduardo Fedriani	....	stunt double: Cillian Murphy
Joseph Racki	....	stunts
Robert Racki	....	stunts
Jeanette Roxborough	....	stunt actor

Camera and Electrical Department
David Acereto	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Barrett Axford	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Darren Boyce	....	key grip: Canada
Brendan Bresnahan	....	key video assist operator
Oriol Busquets	....	focus puller: b camera
Edu Canet	....	video assistant
Óscar Cano	....	grip
Francesc Carreras	....	first assistant camera: a camera
Xavier Carrión	....	electrician
Bob Davidson	....	gaffer: Canada
Beatriz Delgado	....	second assistant: "a" camera
Roberto Escudero	....	electrician
Lia Giralt	....	electrician: dailies
Bill Hong	....	camera car operator
Terry Hooper	....	grip: Canada
Marti Maluquer	....	gaffer
Toni Maluquer	....	electrician
Roger Martínez	....	additional first assistant camera
Christian Moyès	....	additional second assistant camera: "c" camera
Neus Ollé-Soronellas	....	additional camera operator
Rahul Parekh	....	dolly grip: Canada
Albert Pascual	....	director of photography: second unit
Anthony Police	....	best boy grip: Canada
Eduard Pumariega	....	electrician
Jordi Quesada	....	electrician
Kelly Richardson	....	electrician
Felipe Rodriguez	....	dolly grip: Canada
Jerry Romanko	....	grip: Canada
Iban Sarabia	....	camera trainee
Mireia Serrano	....	clap loader
Eric Solé	....	electrician
Ramón Sánchez	....	steadicam operator

Casting Department
Noa Franco	....	casting assistant
Stephanie Gorin	....	casting: Canada

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Fran Cruz	....	assistant costume designer
Desirée Guirao	....	assistant costume designer
Anna Izquierdo	....	set costumer
Cristina Martín	....	set costumer
Nuria Pascual-Andujar	....	costume assistant
Ariadna Pons	....	daily costume assistant
Monica Ruiz-Ziegler	....	costumer: Mr. De Niro

Editorial Department
Alberto Bernad	....	assistant editor
Quique Cañadas	....	digital intermediate colorist
David Cárceles	....	post operations manager
Pico Díaz	....	assistant editor
Nacho Melero	....	digital intermediate supervisor
Laura Sanchez	....	digital intermediate coordinator
Enric Sebastià	....	finishing editor

Music Department
John Barrett	....	scoring protools engineer
Rodrigo Cortés	....	music producer
Alastair King	....	conductor

Other crew
Brianna Brown	....	business affairs assistant
Laurence Brown	....	bridge finance legal services
Roser Canela	....	production assistant
Lee Ann Cotton	....	production assistant
Karen Doble	....	production coordinator: Toronto unit
John Eccleston	....	financial controller
Eider Galán	....	production staff
Susana García Díez	....	assistant to director
Toni González	....	production assistant
Jennifer Haufler	....	assistant to Ms. Weaver: Toronto unit
Scott Helgert	....	stand-in
Ferran Herranz	....	distribution coordinator
Aaron Horton	....	assistant production coordinator: Toronto unit
Lluna Juvé	....	production assistant
Alex Lalonde	....	business affairs: First Generation Films
Christian Lattman	....	stand-in/photo double: Cillian Murphy
Aleix Lladó	....	production assistant
Víctor Macià	....	production staff
Víctor Martí	....	post production coordinator
Travis McConnell	....	third assistant director
Michael McCrudden	....	production assistant: Toronto unit
Adam M. Stone	....	product placement coordinator
Cat Stone	....	product placement coordinator
Douglas Stuart Wilson	....	screenplay translator
Jodi A. Tario	....	assistant to Mr. Murphy: Toronto unit
Dave Tommasini	....	helicopter pilot
Núria Valls	....	production coordinator
Anna Vilà	....	continuity
Timothy Visentin	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Nostromo Pictures
• Cindy Cowan Entertainment (in association with)
• Antena 3 Films (associate producer)
• Attitude Pinículas y Films A.I.E.
• Televisió de Catalunya (TV3)

Distributors

• Alliance Films (2012) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2012) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2012) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2012) (France) (theatrical)
• Millennium Entertainment (2012) (USA) (theatrical)
• Momentum Pictures (2012) (UK) (theatrical)
• Presidio (2013) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Rai Cinema (2012) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2012) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Thim Film (2012) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2011) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Amero PT (2012) (Indonesia) (all media)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2011) (Switzerland) (all media)
• Cinesky (2012) (worldwide) (DVD) (airlines, except UK)
• Daisy Entertainment (2012) (South Korea) (all media)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2012) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (rental)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2012) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2013) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2013) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (retail)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2013) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Eagle Films (2012) (Non-USA) (all media) (middle east)
• Forum Film (2012) (Israel) (all media)
• Golden Harvest (2012) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Golden Screen (2012) (Malaysia) (all media)
• Long Shong Entertainment Multimedia Company (2012) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Myndform (2012) (Iceland) (all media)
• Nordisk Film (2012) (Denmark) (all media)
• Nordisk Film (2012) (Finland) (all media)
• Nordisk Film (2012) (Iceland) (all media)
• Nordisk Film (2012) (Norway) (all media)
• Nordisk Film (2012) (Sweden) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Armenia) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Azerbaijan) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Belarus) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Georgia) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Kazakhstan) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Kyrgyzstan) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Moldova) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Russia) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Tajikistan) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Turkmenistan) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Ukraine) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2012) (Uzbekistan) (all media)
• Pinema (2011) (Turkey) (all media)
• Pioneer Films (2012) (Philippines) (all media)
• Pris Audiovisuais (2012) (Portugal) (all media)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2012) (Hungary) (all media)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2012) (Romania) (all media)
• Shaw (2012) (Singapore) (all media)
• Tanweer Films (2011) (Bangladesh) (all media)
• Tanweer Films (2011) (Bhutan) (all media)
• Tanweer Films (2011) (India) (all media)
• Tanweer Films (2011) (Maldives) (all media)
• Tanweer Films (2011) (Nepal) (all media)
• Tanweer Films (2011) (Pakistan) (all media)
• Tanweer Films (2011) (Sri Lanka) (all media)
• Tanweer Films (2012) (India) (all media)
• Tanweer Films (2012) (Pakistan) (all media)
• Vicol Entertainment (2012) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Vicol Entertainment (2012) (Hong Kong) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Village Roadshow Greece S.A. (2012) (Cyprus) (all media)
• Village Roadshow Greece S.A. (2012) (Greece) (all media)
• Wild Bunch Germany (2012) (Germany) (all media)

Other Companies

• Cohen & Gardner  production legal
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Lakeshore Records  soundtrack
• Ovide B S  video equipment
• Pinewood Toronto Studios  stages
• Stone Management  product placement

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

Spain | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Ireland:15A | UK:15 | Singapore:PG13 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 | India:A | Hong Kong:IIB | Mexico:B | Japan:G | Argentina:13 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Nostromo Pictures

Trivia:

In the video lab where Buckley works there is a copy of the famous poster "I Want To Believe" from "The X-Files" (1993), but the quote is changed to "I Want To Understand".

Goofs:

Continuity: During the classroom scene about 13 minutes in, the teacher of the class draws four X's around the circle: top, left, bottom, and right. When she draws the X on the right, she does not lift the marker and did it quickly, making the X look more like a fish shape because it was connected. The very next camera angle shows all four X's as full X's.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Tom Buckley:Margaret. Margaret. Margaret.
Margaret Matheson:[waking] Yes?
Tom Buckley:You should get some sleep.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Projector: Red Lights (#2.22)" (2012)

An intelligent mystery

I wasn't sure what to expect from the trailers. Gore and horror aren't my thing, unless it's done well, and so few are these days. However, I was pleasantly surprised. This has less to do with the supernatural and more to do with belief systems in a modern world.

The story focuses upon two scientist professors that fill in the time between classes by investigating and exposing psychic frauds, be they petulant schoolgirls or venal evangelists. So when Murphy presses to investigate a famous mystic, why is Weaver so reluctant to agree? Is De Niro gifted with extraordinary powers, or a clever con artist? The atmosphere becomes more menacing and oppressive as the film progresses, leaving me wondering whether Murphy was becoming paranoid, or whether De Niro really was targeting him. The end, though not exactly the Sixth Sense ending some are proclaiming, was certainly unexpected.

Great acting from the leads, as you would expect. Great dialogue. Not much in the way of action, nor thankfully schlock horror, but the tension mounted throughout the film. A clever and satisfying film.