Room: A review

A five year old boy Jack and his mother Joy (Brie Larson) have been living in a locked room for all his life. His mother serving as a slave to their tormenter Nick, who comes by for nightly visits whilst Jack sleeps in the closet. One day Jack's life gets turned upside down when he escapes and he and his mother try to readjust to normality.

Room isn't a pleasant movie to watch. I expected a movie about somebody suffering though this kind of horror for quite a while now. With all those creeps getting caught left and right the past few years it was bound to become a movie. But still I sat down and watched it. And am I glad I did. Because this isn't a movie about the horror, it's about freedom.

Thankfully, Room doesn't focus primarily on the horror show that the real life cases feed into our imagination. We -the audience- know what’s going on, but the director never outright shows us. He makes the right decision by letting us connect the dots and imagine the rest. Such a way of dealing with delicate subject material requires two things: a script that allows room for imagination and strong performances.

The script part is simple. Every written word is perfect. It might be a bit 'seen this before' (especially once they escape the room). But then again, we humans aren't that complex a creature. I think it would damage the movie tremendously if the script required characters to do unnatural actions. And yet, in one scene, it does exactly that. But because it is treated as such a 'last ditch attempt' it becomes believable.

You know those plans that you toss out early because you already see a million potential problems on the horizon. Like going fishing on a leaky boat without a lifejacket. If you have time to prepare. Sure you'll fix the boat. But if you are desperate you might 'chance all those things that could go wrong'. And this movie does brilliantly simply because you -the viewer- knows/sees everything that could go wrong. So it creates tension.

Then the acting. Well -for starters- this is Brie Larson's show. She is the rock the movie is based upon and she gives one heck of a performance. Before and after the Oscars it was no question that she would win the golden statuette. Her son is equally impressive for a child actor. But, since the script doesn't need the Jack character to fully comprehend the situation it allows for his performance to be subdued. Which -I think- is a good thing.

But all the actors are great in this movie mainly because of the story required from them. Two examples:

For starters, the cop. Little Jack escapes and is rescued by a friendly man who calls the police. The female officer starts to question Jack whilst her colleague is pretty much willing to throw in the towel. But she doesn't stop. You see this character thinking and connecting pieces. And when, suddenly, Jack gives a workable answer her face lights up as she realizes what to do.

A very small part with some great motivation behind it: The audience wants the boy and his mother to re-find each other. We also want the villain to be caught. This cop is the person the audience relies on. And by making her such a caring and smart woman it doesn't just fill the cathartic cup but it puts a cherry on top.

Another example. A story starts out with a situation and some characters. The Poseidon Adventure: -for example- a ship capsizes and characters have to get out. In Room a young girl is kidnapped, raped into motherhood and eventually released back to her parents. How would they react to their grandchild? How would I react?

The always great William H. Macy plays the father who has problems looking at his grandson. You might blame him but you can also -most definitely- see his dilemma. This is a man who, from the first time you see him, absolutely loves his daughter. No question there. But a grandchild from a monster who destroyed his child's, his own and his wife’s life? How does one deal with this? Macy gives a heck of an answer in his short but memorable performance.

To end with the shots. It's fairly simple. Room is a low budget movie with small tight medium close-ups. Some annoying hand-held camerawork but nothing too distracting. I would have preferred a better, cut-clear sense of how small the Room was in the beginning of the movie. But I think this is a deliberate choice of the filmmakers; to emphasize the lack of space at the end of the movie. I don't really know whether I fully agree with this choice, but that's fine. It's a story about the characters.

One little nitpick though. Maybe it's me but somewhere in the back of my mind I had a million possible escape routes planned for the characters. Now, I'm perfectly aware that I haven't suffered through Joy's trauma and whatnot. But somehow I still have a little problem with the idea that this villain could keep her contained for so long. But then again, as I said, I cannot have an earthly idea of what I'm talking about.

In short Room is a fascination movie to watch. It is dark. And maybe it'll frighten people into a dimmer view of the world. But at the same time it is a amazing tale that shows us the freedom we take for granted every single day.