Red Rose (2022) User Reviews

A fair attempt at YA horror

[heley78 · 6/10 · 2 November 2022]

My husband and I enjoyed this. There was a fairly interesting premise and some good characters however like with a lot of series nowadays are stretched into too many episodes. The 8 could have been condensed to 5 or 6 and then it would have been greatly improved. The episode which seems to just be about getting their exam results was not great.

The first two and last two were decent. The others dragged a bit.

We did feel that the acting was good and they did feel like genuine teenagers and it felt authentic that they were from Bolton and wasn't just like every other teen drama that seems to be based in london.

The characters also had a great bond and each one was distinct and interesting.

An ok way to pass the time, not life changing but also doesn't deserve the incredibly harsh reviews. Could 2 hours have been cut out of it though? Yes absolutely.

Above average young adult drama with strong horror tropes

[JRB-NorthernSoul · 6/10 · 16 August 2022]

Made by the same company as 'Sex Education' this is a very different beast and no comedy. Yes its a bunch of teens at odds with the world and themselves - but this is a coming of age horror story set in Bolton. For once its not a bunch of rich kids at a posh Academy down south.

Made for BBC3 its now also going out on BBC1 which shows its well thought of. The budget is obviously tight but it was well made and it was generally well cast. Best friends and principals Wren and Rochelle played by Amelia Clarkson and Isis Hainsworth are both excellent actors.

The storyline is interesting and grabbed me. Rochelle downloads the 'red rose app' hoping to boost her confidence with it, but it soon begins to become controlling and events start to take a much darker turn.

This is one to enjoy and safely roll with if you like the first episode. I'm in.

Passable entertainment

[roxmewild · 6/10 · 18 September 2022]

Before I begin my review I just want to reiterate this new idea from IMDb whereby all reviews must contain 600 characters this to me is ridiculous as there are certain shows series that are so bad it is very difficult to write that much in a review without listing individual plot holes etc which is something I do not like to do! So I end up waffling inherently just to fulfill the required characters.

This show had a good start dark mysterious humour I found the characters as end of school kids good and the acting was good, story wise it was a bit strange and there were many flaws in its production and writing mainly due to the strange story and how the kids reacted which on many occasion was bizzare and not what you would expect any level headed teen to do or act! Due to that you can not expect a good ending so I wasn't surprised at the lameness of the ending either! If you don't expect much and don't look to much into the story it is passable entertainment only. Seems the BBC is hit an£ miss with its drama sadly this is one of its misses ! For a Hit BBC drama I would opt for the Capture imo.

A clever, twisted series.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 23 December 2022]

After she downloads an app called Red Rose, life spirals out of control for teenage girl Rochelle, who's phone seems to have a life of its own, others download it, and have to discover who's behind it to stay alive.

It's an enjoyable, fast moving psychedelic horror series, I was impressed by the tone of it, the acting and the pacing. It really does get darker and more twisted as it develops, the final trio of episodes were the best patch for me.

What was interesting, was the anonymity of the villains, nameless, faceless, and lacking any degree of morality.

Initially I just saw it as The BBC doing a Netflix type series, similar to Eden or Scream, but it has its own identity, it's twisted and macabre at times, it had me gripped.

Well written, well crafted, I liked the mix of horror, humour drama and action, it surprised me how good it actually was, so much so that I binge watched it in a day.

7/10.

It's fine!

[Just-A-Girl-14 · 7/10 · 8 May 2023]

The show is ok. I don't agree with the haters or with reviewers that gave this show a very high rating. It's between 6 to 7 depending on your age and expectations.

I think it is more suitable for young teenagers who are just starting to watch the horror genre. It's also ok if you're just looking to pass the time with an ok horror show. It's not for viewers who are looking for something original, innovative or spectacular. The storyline isn't new, it's been done many times before. There's also very little violence and gore so I think they really were aiming for a younger audience. It can be entertaining if you don't expect much.

The story although predictable is fine. Sure, it's not very realistic and the characters aren't very deep, they do stupid things like every other teenager in every other horror movie, but what else is new? There are some plot holes and unanswered questions at the end but nothing that should really bother the viewer since the storyline is fairly simple. Yes, it could have been better but no, it doesn't suck. My advice is this: if you are an experienced viewer in the horror genre that is looking for something really scary/gory/original then skip this one but if you're a newbie or if you're just looking for some horror entertainment then give this one a chance and see for yourself if you like it or not.

One last note, I really like Adam Nagaitis. He is an excellent actor and he was great in here too!

Factory reset

[aribrink · 6/10 · 18 February 2023]

Apparently teenagers these days don't know how their smartphones work, take them with them everywhere they go - even when the phones are demonicly possessed and don't use the option to reset to factory settings in cases of maleware.

The show manages to rein back the plot driving stupidity for the first four episodes and then goes downhill.

Culminating In the last episode which takes the cake.

Some of the highlights are:

Let's stop our protagonists from going anywhere. But then give them somewhere to go. And then stop them. And then setup a gazillion cameras and wait for them.

Let's destroy all evidence in order to distract the bad guy.

Let's all us victims hide from the police instead of staying and explaining like we should have done seven episodes back.

And of course, last but not least, let's add a totally unnecessary sacrifice for the sake of tear jerking.

As I've said, these are just some that pop in my mind as I write. It's really rare to watch something that the stupidity of the main characters is the only thing that drives the plot forward to this extend.

Really wanted to like it but...

[roobens · 4/10 · 22 August 2022]

First and second episode were pretty good and had the makings of something interesting and scary, but the show quickly fell into sloppy, lazy writing and then devolved further until it was relying upon the basic cardinal sin of having characters make stupid decisions and/or not talking to one another properly in order to drive the plot forward. Even though the group of protagonists is supposed to be a Goonies-esque tight crew of friends, they somehow managed to be randomly stumbling around by themselves in various situations right up to the final episode, due to the bad writing and poorly planned or outright nonsensical motivations forcing them into ever more unlikely and dimwitted scenarios to force some level of suspense.

About halfway through the run I realised it was going to be a disappointment, but even still I didn't expect how shambolic the final episodes would turn out. Really, really bad.

On a positive note the writers did manage to create some excellent one-off scenes, but the overall narrative and writing around them was simply too poor and lazy, with the show descending into cringeworthy farce when Red Rose is finally exposed for what it is in the final couple of episodes.

Overall I'd not recommend anyone waste their time with this. It actually reflects poorly on Sex Education that it's the same writing team.

Grim Northern Horror

[Pairic · 8/10 · 24 February 2023]

Red Rose: Another Killer APP, is a well worn trope but Red Rose takes a fresh approach, always surprising in its twists and turns. I was really impressed at the way the plot developed. Some good scenes of horror but it's mostly psychological. A group of teen friends in a grim northern UK town, Bolton, finish school and await their exam results. It's really grim and I don't just mean the Horror APP, which is effective. It's the grinding poverty and hard lives of some of the characters. It's as if Ken Loach is directing/writing it. There are the usual teen traumas, some bullying, heartbreak over romances, family problems, but this feeds into the narrative rather than providing a sideshow, We;ve already seen a girl die due to the APP Red Rose, and now it turns up on the phone of one of the teens. Strange events follow, there is apparent communication with dead people, phones send disturbing/troublemaking messages seemingly at will. Red Rose knows what everyone is doing, where they are. The death toll mounts as the series veers between Fantasy and Science Fiction (but always Horror) as the APP manipulates more people. Great acting from an ensemble cast. Created and written by Michael and Paul Clarkson. Eight episodes on Netflix. 8/10.

Surprisingly entertaining. Good cast.

[FakirFred · 7/10 · 31 July 2023]

The first episodes were great. The show starts with a bang where we see a teenage girl in a panic in her house. This results in her making a freefall from far too high after what seems to be some sort of entity or paranormal thing toying with her and the electronics in her house. Afterwards, we get to meet our main cast, a British group of teens who just finished their exams. And, as we've all been there, we get to collide with our emotions, our love interests and our personal and urban situation. Red Rose pulled this off really well. Even though I knew no single actor in this series, I was positively surprised by the natural and realistic way of acting. The scary Red Rose app itself works well, too. And as the first episodes carry on, I really got to feel for Rochelle, she performs really well and is a very likable character.

Then after a few episodes, danger results in chaos and I was quite in shock about what happened. And after that, the show needed to ascend to a new level. And unfortunately, that's not what happened.

Admitted, the actors do their job really well and Wren gets better in her performance as leading female every episode, but the story is reaching. It seems like the developers can't decide whether they wanted to make this a horror show, a detective or a psychological thriller. The finale is a bit predictable, but I've seen worse.

It started so good

[Linmalut · 5/10 · 13 September 2022]

It started so good, the first 3-4 episodes with Rochelle were great, then it was becoming just an average teenage drama, lazier and lazier writing and not believable. New, shallow characters appeared, too many unbelievable coincidences, like Roch's father having a picnic on his own in the same spot as the teenagers and by coincident he also has Roch's letter about her results in his hands. What is the chance of that happening? Teenagers dying and no one is willing to turn their phone or WiFi off. The last episode is probably the worst. I was expecting a much more twisted ending. The series had a potential but it feels like a different person wrote the beginning and end episodes.

Genuinely likable young people in this clever dark thriller

[ehlphotography · 8/10 · 24 August 2022]

What sets this thriller apart is its genuinely likable and believable group of young freinds. It takes its time to really build up their relationships and I loved its use of trademark northern big hearted insulting banter. When the story starts taking dark twists you really care about what happens to them and the bonds and rifts feel real. Red Rose is a sophisticated cyber thriller, but also a wonderfully portrayed warm hearted, realistic drama. Make sure you give it the time it deserves as it is more considered and less showy than a lot of dramas we are used to today, but the pay off is worth it and it stays with you. There are some really powerful uses of music for key moments. I'm sure we will be seeing more of its talented young cast and I look forward to more from the writers too with their totally believable gritty writing.

80s 90s music no sense(?)

[nichatzidimitriou · 6/10 · 16 February 2023]

I am here to discuss the music - songs we heard in each episode which made absolutely NO sense as they were only 80s - 90s songs. Don't get me wrong, I love them however they seemed off compared to nowadays music while having smart phones (present). Apart from the music, the show was interesting at the beginning however after episode 3 it became boring and in some accasions made no sense. None of the characters thought to cover the cameras with duck tape or not talk while having the smartphones at hand. And ofcourse "let's delete all evidence" that could lead to the creeps and prove the murders. Ps: the characters should know how to the download videos.

Started off well...then

[Otte1 · 4/10 · 17 February 2023]

The first two episodes grabbed my attention. And yes, as the comments has mentioned, it is essentially a Black Mirror episode extended out to eight shows. As with many of these limited series, they tend to work better as two or three-part series because when stretched out they contains 'useless filler'.

In the beginning I like the teenagers better than usual, but after a while it clearly appeared the writers was losing ideas and started inserting plot devices to keep the story going. While this happens in almost every movie, there is a difference between having a few plot devices to push the story forward to completely depending on the plot device to even have a story. That is where Red Rose came apart. The last few episodes were so convoluted that It diminished what goodwill had been achieved.

Another item....ending. The ending was.....stupid. It supposed basis for the whole story seemed thrown in. It also appears like the writers changed course, from a mystery horror to an internet caper. This is where the quality dropped dramatically and the last few episodes did not match the tone, atmosphere or even the story that was created in the beginning. As I think about it, the way the series ended would have made the beginning impossible.

In short...if you don't like thinking, you can enjoy this. If you think, you will not.

Lanca-shining.

[southdavid · 6/10 · 22 September 2022]

Like "The Ring" but set in Bolton, is the oft used line to describe BBC's Horror-drama "Red Rose" which was released in late summer of 2022. Whilst I enjoyed the performances throughout, the more the show ran on, the more it unravelled for me.

Rochelle Mason (Isis Hainsworth) is celebrating her last day of GCSE's exams when, at a low point, she receives a text pointing her towards an app named "Red Rose". The app promises to make her dreams come true but soon starts setting her trials to undertake. As a wedge is driven between her and her friends, the app becomes more and more threatening, until she begins to see images of her late mother through the camera.

I have to find the right balance here, as I need to talk about the later episodes of the show without spoiling the series. When the explanations start to come about what is happening, I found them to be less interesting and more implausible than other options, that might have been taken, would have been. I also think that, for what is essentially a horror show, it's quite tame in the levels of violence and actual horror that it's prepared to show, especially for a show that, though aimed at teenagers, goes out after the watershed (for what that's worth in an age of streaming).

I think that the performances from the young cast are all good, and the show is often quite funny. There are quite a few recognisable faces in the parents cast, indeed some are a depressing reminder of how old I am now, that they can play parents of teenagers.

I think this one season just about held together, more due to the cast than the plot, but I don't feel the need for anymore and also that there was a much better version of this that we weren't too far away from.

Not bad...

[veryprivateswag · 7/10 · 17 August 2022]

Not bad but typical stupid ending and frankly the kids were stupid all through the season. Could have been better but okay to watch if you got nothing else at the moment.

Disappointing YA

[FilmFreakForLife · 17 August 2022]

Eagerly tuned in with my teenage daughter who devours YA shows but we were sorely disappointed. This sounded so promising but sadly it's let down by poor writing and some very poor acting with teenagers who look mid twenties at best! There are too many moments that feel like they've been written by a middle aged man who's never met a teenager let alone understands what it's like to be a teenage girl.

It lacks the charm, wit and style of competing YA shows. None of the characters are likeable so why would we care what happens to them. The idea of the app is so intriguing but the way it's been realised on screen feels incredibly unimaginative. A waste of a good idea and a total let down I'm afraid. My daughter was begging me to turn it off after twenty minutes but we stuck it out to the end of the first episode hoping it would improve. It didn't.

Another show that spoils ending trying to leave open for series 2

[catyoung-23777 · 6/10 · 31 August 2022]

This was watchable but average and quite predictable.

I think the concept deserved better. The young cast were good but let down a bit by the flow of the programme and the random red herrings. The show tries very hard to be plausible in the modern world but as alot of shows and films do it went too far at the end which took away the fear factor. Also continuity to say you can't get in touch with someone when you have dumped your phone was just one example of several niggles.

Overall the ending should have been better but they have tried to go for a season 2. Please people who make programmes if your show is good enough they will find a way to make a sequel no matter how it ends.

Passable

[binthaider-755-822849 · 4/10 · 18 February 2023]

First couple of episodes were really good. Then it started to go downhill when things just wouldn't add up and make sense. What started off as a super natural horror didn't end like that. And lots of events that took place stopped making sense.

Best thing about this series are the friends. They were a believable bunch of Northerners! This really made you care about them.

It's definitely not a budget movie and is filmed very well. The actors are brilliant.

But I seriously wished it didn't have so many flaws and pot holes! Such huge potential from all around, I wish the writers were a bit more clued on.

British Beauty

[rockbunny-73250 · 8/10 · 22 February 2023]

Really loved this.

Can't beat a British, gritty drama. And even better when it's like real life. Real houses, real attitudes, real areas us Brits live in.

The actors were all great. Never heard of most of them, but they seemed pros. I bet they are!

Storylines were good, realistic between the characters.

Main story of the phone app, good idea. It's not like it couldn't happen either. Not out of the world thriller.

And the soundtrack, so brilliant.

This definitely has me on the edge a lot. Felt sorry for the kids so much. I'm glad this was a series, they had so much to say and explain. This didn't feel like it was longed out.

Enjoyable.

Enjoyable - interesting and creepy

[luann-lewis · 6/10 · 18 February 2023]

Because it was a series, they were able to develop the characters quite well. The beginning was dark a realistic with a nightmarish quality that warrants a trigger alert. After that it twists into a more typical horror scenario that requires a fair amount of suspension of disbelief. Still, I really liked some of the little twists and the overall reveal (which comes surprisingly early) is very creepy. The problem with the story is that short of Scooby Doo, no kids would be as un-cautious as these guys, but then there wouldn't be much of a story I guess. The best part of this was the convincing characters. The acting was great and there were some very endearing moments, particularly involving a boy named Antony, who had a side drama all his own, delivered poignantly. This was more nuanced than the typical horror mystery but got a little two dimensional toward the end.

Erratic

[davidhomer-50002 · 1/10 · 23 August 2022]

A group of teenagers that don't understand how phones work behave erratically and stupidly for weeks on end. It's annoying because there's some good underlying ideas but damn it's so frustrating.

Black Mirror with a teen twist

[aimesuk · 8/10 · 15 August 2022]

Really good teen drama with a tragic twist. It has got a feel of Black Mirror combined with a ghost story so if that's up your street you might like it.

Reviewed at 2 episodes in.

Underwhelming ending

[anitakelley · 6/10 · 9 March 2023]

I enjoyed it for the most part - and had there been a surprising twist at the end I would have given it a 9 or 10! Had me wondering - is this supernatural? Is this modern tech? Definitely kept me guessing.

Just very disappointed with the dull ending. Introducing some random as the person behind it was crap. I'd hoped it was going to be some mental case they already knew, and they had a reason for doing what they were doing, rather than just people seeking dark entertainment.

Kudos to the cast though, no one I'd previously heard of and the "teens" were authentic. And certainly gives some food for thought with teens (or anyone) and their online status these days.

First episode decent

[emregan-84395 · 5/10 · 19 August 2022]

First episode was ok but just doesn't make any sense after that lol ! Good young actors and actresses, I would of actually preferred this being a drama rather then a horror/suspense despite all the modern technology today an app that speaks to you without you having control over it is just stupid...Throw your phone away ... daft.

Scooby doo

[peterbrady-14782 · 7/10 · 23 August 2022]

There was at one point a reference made to scooby doo. And the way this series ended was rather like that. Only instead of the "would have got away with it..." more like jumping up and down shouting "it was me. Me along. Look at me" the group was great. Only Jaya I would say was shoe horned in to solve the puzzle pretty much single handed and what a whizz at IT. Very handy, cough, convenient.

Rochelle was great.

But so often with teen problems. Parents are oblivious and police invisible.