Three women get caught up in the world of human trafficking and prostitution when the husband of one of the women, Esther (Halina Reijn), suddenly disappears.
From completely different backgrounds, the lives of these women intertwine, and they find out they need each other to get out of the difficult situations they’re trapped in.
Red Light also stars Carice van Houten (Game of Thrones).
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In Flemish with English subtitles.
Red Light – Australian Premiere, Thursday, 10 June 2021 on SBS On Demand (all ten episodes available to stream)
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I loved this series so much. It charts the intersection of three women grappling with betrayal, life choices and morality amid the underworld of sex-trafficking. It had so many twists and turns, yet the performances were strong and kept the story moving.
I especially liked the central couple, Ingmar and Sylvia, a classic case of domestic abuse if there ever was one. One can only suspect he has recruited her from a very young age and she has so little power in the relationship that she allows him to tell her when and where to eat. Yet, she does have power because he seems to be obsessed with her, doing careless things that are his undoing.
The part that dragged for me a bit was the constant back and forth between Evi and her husband. There were many unnecessary scenes of her vacillating between leaving her family or staying. It became distracting and looked like they were put in only to fill time.
I found the dynamic between sex worker Sylvia and widow Esther, to be the most interesting. Both were not who they seemed. Sylvia is a tough cookie who longs for love and a baby yet she can just as easily escort young recruits to their doom without a showing a single emotion. While Esther— wealthy, mannered, talented and bereft— grows angrier and angrier with every new betrayal, so much so that we are not surprised and almost cheering for her when she picks up a shotgun and aims it at her dead husband’s lover.
The decisions faced by all three are life-changing, as events conspire to turn their worlds upside-down. The series was long enough to dig deeply into their characters and flashbacks were not over done. The ending was a bit of a hash, there were lots of silly decisions made by the three women at the summer house (why not just drive away? why go back in? or during escape wouldn’t you lock your doors in the car and not stop for angry and armed husbands standing in the road?). These are small annoyances.
The three worlds colliding was very effective, each one wondering what life is like on the other side.
I thought the ending was masterful and harked back to Sylvia’s true character: she is a survivor. She owes Esther a lot.