A washed-up porn actor named Mikey Davies returns to his small Texas hometown with $22 and a bus ticket. He moves back in with his estranged wife, sells weed and sets his sights on a teenage girl who works at a donut shop. You get to see how charming a bad guy can be.
Red Rocket is a 2021 comedy and drama film directed by Sean Baker. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (1 psychology, 1 sound, 1 cinematography and 1 narrative), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Full Metal Jacket uses several of the same techniques.
Inviting the audience to feel for a monstrous or wrongdoing figure. Pity, identification or shared intellect makes judging them harder.
How this film uses it
Mikey lies, uses people and keeps moving the blame onto others. Simon Rex plays him with so much charm that you keep half rooting for him. The film lets you enjoy his company and then makes you feel bad about it.
Where to see it
The car crash. After a multiple-vehicle collision, Mikey begs Lonnie to hide his part in it, and Lonnie takes the blame when he is arrested.
Playing a cheerful or familiar pop song over violence or moral disaster. The gap between the song and the image creates dark comedy and political commentary.
How this film uses it
NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" runs through the film as a teen pop joke. Later Strawberry plays a piano version for Mikey. The sweet tune sits on top of a story about a grown man grooming a 17-year-old, and the gap makes you uneasy.
Where to see it
The piano scene. Strawberry plays a piano version of "Bye Bye Bye" for Mikey, and the childlike song plays while he plots to use her.
Using specific working-class parts of a city, like its bars, docks and construction sites, to define the characters. The places show who they are expected to be and what leaving would cost.
How this film uses it
Mikey has no car, so he gets around Texas City on a kid's bicycle. His world is the donut shop, the construction workers, and his estranged wife's mother's modest house. The places tell you how little room he has left to fall.
Where to see it
Mikey riding the children's bike to his weed customers. The small bike under a grown man shows exactly where his life has landed.
Wringing laughs from awkward, humiliating or obstructive situations, so the audience squirms as characters fail to read or beat the system.
How this film uses it
Baker lets awkward moments run long, so you squirm. Mikey's friend Lonnie pretends to be an Army veteran, and everyone around him sees through it before he does. The laughter comes from watching people fail to read the room.
Where to see it
The mall fountain. Two real veterans see through Lonnie's fake Army story, humiliate him and throw him into the fountain.
Questions
Red Rocket: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Red Rocket use?
CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Red Rocket (2021): Sympathy for the Villain, Ironic Pop Music Score, Working-Class Geography and Comedy of Discomfort.
Who directed Red Rocket?
Sean Baker directed Red Rocket, released in 2021. CineCode also covers Tangerine (2015), The Florida Project (2017), Anora (2024).
What films are similar to Red Rocket?
Films that share techniques with Red Rocket include Full Metal Jacket (1987), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Good Will Hunting (1997), Ikiru (1952).
