# Red Light (2020)

> Three women from very different worlds are drawn into human trafficking after Esther's husband vanishes, and must rely on each other to escape.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/95534

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Carice van Houten, Halina Reijn
- Network: Streamz, BNNVARA, VTM
- Cast: Carice van Houten, Halina Reijn, Maaike Neuville, Geert Van Rampelberg, Koen De Bouw, Robert de Hoog, Tom Jansen, Saar de Groof
- TMDB rating: 7.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10795304/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: gritty, tense, raw, sombre, intimate

## What critics say

Critics broadly praise Red Light's gritty, unsentimental portrait of trafficking and its strong lead performances, while finding its pacing uneven in places.

## Synopsis

Red Light (2020-2021) is a Dutch-Belgian crime drama series created by Carice van Houten and Halina Reijn, a ten-episode single-season run co-produced for Streamz, BNNVARA and VTM. Esther Vinkel (Halina Reijn) and Sylvia Steenhuyzen (Carice van Houten) anchor the story as its central women, with Evi Vercruyssen (Maaike Neuville) drawn into the same web. When Esther's husband suddenly disappears, the three women, who come from completely different worlds, find their lives tangled in the underworld of human trafficking and prostitution. The engine of the series is their struggle to free themselves from situations they cannot easily leave, with each episode pushing them deeper into dangerous territory and forcing them to depend on one another. Told as a tightly woven serialized story, the series moves between the women's separate lives as they converge. Its tone is tense, gritty and emotionally raw, with a sober, unsentimental look at exploitation and the solidarity that grows between women who have little in common. Fans of The Girlfriend Experience, Gomorrah and Peaky Blinders will find resonance in its dark crime atmosphere and morally complicated characters.

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