With more people online than ever, the internet isn’t as intimidating and alien as it used to be. Everything also seems easier when you’re connected. Yet when the young and unaware characters in Netflix’s latest series Red Rose download a mysterious phone app, they fall prey to an anonymous predator lurking behind the screen. This basic concept of malevolent cyber forces affecting the real world is nothing novel, especially in such a contemporary setting, but this show does a convincing job of making the web feel unsafe again.
Red Rose, a BBC series that first aired in 2022, is set in the creators’ hometown of Bolton, England. Michael and Paul Clarkson (co-producers of The Haunting of Bly Manor) and production company Eleven (The Enfield Haunting) collaborated on this gripping exercise in technological terror. The story follows a clique of friends whose ostensible leader is targeted by the titular app. Roch (Isis Hainsworth) has just finished taking her last school exams when she receives the ominous link to Red Rose.
Bolton doesn’t get particularly warm, even during the summer. So Red Rose’s temperate and washed-out presentation is an asset when telling this gloomy story. The more Roch plays with Red Rose, the more she becomes isolated from her family and friends. It starts out like a modern fairytale as the app delivers her presents that neither she nor her widowed father (Samuel Anderson) can afford. As to be expected, the gifts have strings attached. Roch’s bizarre behavior causes a rift between her and her bestie Amelia (Wren Davies), and the conflict has a ripple effect within their friend group.
Without giving too much away, Red Rose makes a bold choice early on. This decision ultimately works in the show’s favor. To investigate the app and its origin required a big push, and the Clarkson Twins didn’t even hesitate to do some lasting damage. The changing moment opens the story up so not only are there more victims to be toyed with, the race to find answers is now urgent and nagging. Red Rose clings to its mystery up until the very end, and once that is revealed, there may be disappointment on the audience’s part. The villain comes across as more dated than innovative. Yet when considering the current times, an age when moral panickers are falsely blaming certain parts of society for harming young people, the story is more effective.
Something Red Rose does well is characters, which is an accomplishment given the size of the cast. Relating to personalities, no one is shortchanged or a duplicate of another character. The colorful but authentic dialogue keeps scenes moving and snappy, and the performances are compelling. Even as the story becomes undone by its own lack of uniqueness, the characters are still worth watching and caring about.
At times Red Rose feels stuck in the past, with its overwhelmingly ’90s soundtrack and uninspired “the internet is evil” messaging. It’s a show about teens, yet there are parts are better suited for adults. Slights aside, this is an absorbing tale of grief garnished with unpredictable moments and likable characters. The horror isn’t always the focus here, however whenever the need for digitally influenced dread does come up, Red Rose doesn’t hold back.
Red Rose is now streaming on Netflix.
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