Review: Room

Room is a movie that features a terrifyingly real tragedy that we all can immediately connect with as instead of it being a grueling film, the truth is that it is the most realistic film to depict love between a mother and her child. Anyone that is a mother will instantly connect with this film due to that, but it will undoubtedly connect with everyone. Even more impressive is the heartfelt performances given by Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay which in a film of this type of subject matter hinges on powerful performances and both delivered in ways that couldn't have been expected. Larson, in particular, has been a star steadily on the rise with films like Short Term 12 but now with this film she will firmly etch herself along with other young female actresses in the business.

The plot follows Joy Newsome (Brie Larson) who had been kidnapped seven years ago and held captive in an enclosed space with her five year old son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay). Eventually, in a bid for their own lives, they get out of their confinement and regain their freedom. However, that freedom came with a price due to their seven years in confinement. Joy, on one hand, had grown jaded towards the world due to how everyone who was close to her seemingly moved on like nothing had happened. Then there is Jack who had grown accustomed to his room and believing that was all there was to life began to enjoy all that life had to offer albeit being a bit guarded. Joy's struggles also put her immediate family in a tough situation as they felt that they had to parent her as well as now Jack.

Lenny Abrahamson did a terrific job behind the camera depicting this heartfelt drama and he made all the right decisions in terms of sticking with a shot for just the right amount of time to increase the tension. One scene in particular that stands out to me would be when Jack is talking about her mother and her struggles and how his voices narrates the image of Joy looking out a window without any kind of emotion. The camera continued to zoom out from Joy and this helped make Joy seem more and more isolated from the world. Emma Donoghue wrote the book that the film is based off of but also penned the script and did a beautiful job in doing so. The dialogue between the characters especially felt very real and authentic which certainly helped the audience feel even more connected to these characters.

Brie Larson did a beautiful job portraying a strong woman who did her best to keep everything inside for the better of her son. However, it took a toll on her as well as the tragedy that she had to endure. It is a difficult role to portray as it calls upon a wide range of emotions that a lesser actress would struggle with, yet Larson didn't stumble. Larson did a terrific job in the quieter moments allowing her inner turmoil to take over even without words, then when she did talk about what she was feeling it had that much more of an impact to the audience. It is no surprise that Larson was nominated for Best Actress by the Academy Awards. Jacob Tremblay on the other hand has also made a big name for himself in this film. It is an incredibly tough task to ask of a young child to portray a role as difficult as Tremblay's Jack and yet he did so beautifully. The film hinged on the performances of both Larson and Tremblay but it could have easily fallen apart in the hands of an child actor with half the talent of Tremblay.