RED ROCKET Trailer
A man returns home, but not in disgrace, in Red Rocket, the latest from co-writer/director Sean Baker.
Mikey hadn’t gone back to Texas in a while because he was busy making it as a porn star. Unfortunately, that career has a time limit that Mikey recently exceeded. This is what brings him home, where the brash but otherwise unskilled man struggles to tame his ego in a place where none of his skills can be utilized and his past mistakes haunt him.
Baker is known for creating immersive worlds in films like Tangerine and The Florida Project, and he seems to be doing the same thing here, if in a slightly more familiar place. Smalltown USA is a rather familiar stomping ground for films, as are the anxieties of returning there after an adventure in the wider world. He’ll need to work hard to make this feel fresh, but if his last two movies are any indication, he’s perfectly comfortable applying a heavy style to make compelling films.
Playing Mikey is Simon Rex, a veteran of the Scary Movie franchise, which supports the feel that you’re supposed to be chuckling at the bumbling protagonist. Co-starring with him is a lot of relative unknowns (another familiar part of Baker’s films), including Bree Elrod and Suanna Son.
With Baker’s history and the film’s strong festival showings, this is one to keep an eye out for.
Red Rocket is directed by Sean Baker and stars Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, and Suanna Son. It will be released in the US on December 3rd, 2021. For international release dates, click here.
Will you stumble around with this adrift man? Let us know in the comments!
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