Red Rocket
92
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A washed-up porn star returns to his Texas hometown, crashes with his estranged wife, and fixates on a teenage doughnut shop worker as his ticket back.
Why watch: Five-minute standing ovation at Cannes. Simon Rex's comeback.
Cast
Simon Rex as Mikey
Suzanna Son as Strawberry
Bree Elrod as Lexi
Ethan Darbone as Lonnie
Brenda Deiss as Lil
Judy Hill as Leondria
Brittney Rodriguez as June
Marlon Lambert as Ernesto
Vickie Pearce as Manager #1
Bashir Abboud as Manager #2
Kevin Cavanaugh as Manager #3
Caressa Garza as Manager #4
Melary Jones as Leondria's Friend #1
Najeeb Hassan as Quick Stop Clerk
Leigh Ann Welch as Leondria's Friend #2
Crew
Sean Baker — Director
Chris Bergoch — Writer
Sean Baker — Writer
Ben Browning — Executive Producer
Milan Popelka — Executive Producer
Alison Cohen — Executive Producer
Glen Basner — Executive Producer
Samantha Quan — Producer
Tsou Shih-ching — Producer
Alex Saks — Producer
Sean Baker — Producer
Alex Coco — Producer
Jackie Shenoo — Executive Producer
Sean Baker — Casting
Drew Daniels — Director of Photography
Sean Baker — Editor
Stephonik Youth — Production Design
Community Reviews
Sep 27, 2026
Not my favorite Sean Baker movie. I understand why people say "You should definitely watch it" but stop short of saying "It's amazing" or "I love it," or "I'd watch it again." The cinematography is the clear stand out element, and as always with Sean Baker movies there is a wealth of original and interesting choices that few other filmmakers offer so consistently. Ultimately, I find the handling of the Lolita storyline and the seventeen year old character overall pretty indefensible. Not sure the film can hide behind the typical rationale used to defend the handling of controversial subject matter (its told through the antihero's perspective, or it's a dark comedy, or its a cautionary tale). There are versions of all of those treatments that don't candy coat the predation so eagerly and so thoroughly.