Red Rocket

The film is at its best, though, when it is trying to connect Mikey to any larger American ailment or masculinity but simply allows Mikey to be his mercenary conman self...

Baker’s movies have always been about location, location, location, and Red Rocket is no different.

It is Rexs extraordinary puppy-dog vigour that makes the character tolerable in spite of his repeated appalling decisions.

As well as being filthy, droll and almost unbearably tense, it offers great news for anyone too broke to go to drama school.

A dirty delight. Weird, smart, fantastic and very, very wrong.

Rex actively underplays Mikey’s self-interest and cruelty, so that -- in a way -- the audience becomes an equal target of his manipulation.

...Red Rocket isn't the director's best, but it does help us understand where Sean Baker is coming from. And also, where he's going.

It benefits from a solid performance by Simon Rex, but its narrative often remains stuck in a routine that weighs down its discourse on sexual exploitation and opportunism as a parable of the failures of the American dream. [Full review in Spanish]

Baker offers a subtle but penetrating critique of the decline of American ideals, showing a fractured country where the promises of success and prosperity feel increasingly unattainable. [Full review in Spanish]

Baker's appreciation for even the smallest roles is a chief delight of Red Rocket.