Room Review

Room Review

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Five year old Jack has lived in room all of his life, his friends are wardrobe, sink and plant, and his only connection to the outside world is a TV with bad signal. Lenny Abrahamson's new film Room is an extremely moving display of childlike wonder and innocence, and is one of my favourite films of the past few months.


Jack's mother has been trapped in a small 10x10 room for 7 years, with her only point of contact to the outside world being 'Old Nick' who comes every Sunday to drop off groceries and abuse her. For Jack, room is all he has known, and his mother tells him that room is all there is in the world. Television comes from TV planets, and everyone on TV is flat and made of colour, the only thing outside of room for Jack is outer space. The magical fairy tale type world that Ma has created for Jack becomes the main point of focus in the film when she decides she wants to escape room. Jack fights and argues with his mum when she starts to try and explain the real world to him, that there are trees and oceans and dogs outside room. The two of them escape fairly early on into the film, and the story becomes about what happens afterwards, when Ma discovers that life has been carrying on without her outside.

This is an extremely powerful and moving piece of work, largely down to the fact that most of the film is seen through the eyes of Jack. His struggle to adapt to the outside world is fascinating to watch, as he tries to comprehend everything around him, while his mother is struggling to cope with the fact that the world has changed since she left. The relationship between mother and son is the most convincing I have ever seen in a film, newcomer Jacob Tremblay is a revelation as Jack. Jacob gives a true and honest portrayal of childhood, much like Quvenzhane Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild. He is both quiet, gentle, angry, loud, scared and fearless all at once, displaying an emotional maturity far beyond his years. Brie Larson as Ma however is the standout performance in the film, her strength crumbles after leaving room, and as her role as Jacks mother changes, she falls apart. We don't often see the aftermath of these kinds of events in films, Ma's fairy tale ending of being reunited with her family is not what she expects, as she tries to cope with the fear and memories of room and what happened. Jack begins to grow up and adapt to this new world, while Ma is trapped in limbo between the two, testing their relationship and exploring the often under addressed post traumatic stress disorder that she experiences.

The melancholic soundtrack of Room, consisting of traditional music pieces and contemporary post rock in the form of band This Will Destroy You add to the emotional intensity of some of the scenes, particularly when Jack and his mother and reunited after their escape. Jack's narration of the story works perfectly too, he describes the world outside of room using the magical terminology he's been taught by his mother to draw us into his mind and what he is thinking. The trembling documentary style of filming is nothing special, but does a good job of not getting in the way of the story and characters, this is not in any way a pretentiously technical film, but rather a human story made to be absorbed directly to the heart, not the brain.

Come awards season Room will surely do well, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone and everyone, a must see film this season.

9.5/10