Movie Review: A24's ROOM

---

ROOM

Release Date: November 6th 2015
Directed By: Lenny Abrahamson
Written By: Emma Donoghue (novel and screenplay)
Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers
Rating: Rated R for language
Official Sites: Web

ROOM tells the extraordinary story of Jack, a spirited 5-year-old who is looked after by his loving and devoted mother. Like any good mother, Ma dedicates herself to keeping Jack happy and safe, nurturing him with warmth and love and doing typical things like playing games and telling stories. Their life, however, is anything but typical--they are trapped--confined to a windowless, 10-by-10-foot space that Ma has euphemistically named Room. Ma has created a whole universe for Jack within Room, and she will stop at nothing to ensure that, even in this treacherous environment, Jack is able to live a complete and fulfilling life. But as Jack's curiosity about their situation grows, and Ma's resilience reaches its breaking point, they enact a risky plan to escape, ultimately bringing them face-to-face with what may turn out to be the scariest thing yet: the real world.

---

It’s not easy to write about the movies that I really want you to see. I worry that I may not do a film justice, or that I sound so sappy that everyone is turned away from the movie I’m writing about. I know it’s not my job to get you to the theater, but every so often a little indie movie comes along that I genuinely hope will do well. ROOM is one such film.

ROOM is the kind of movie that makes me love movies. It’s the reason that I spend too much time in a movie theater. It’s the kind of gem that I might not catch if I didn’t try to see everything. And I hope that some of you will make time to share in all of the feels that it brings.

The concept is easy to comprehend. It’s a story about captivity and freedom, and the journey between the two. Okay, so those concepts aren’t very easy to understand, but Brie Larson (as Ma) and young Jacob Tremblay (as Jack) bring the concepts and the story to life, beautifully. Tremblay will blow you away. He steals most of the scenes he’s in. Larson, for her part, complements Tremblay’s Jack well. I also liked Joan Allen (as Grandma) in this.

ROOM has all the feels. I honestly felt stir crazy for the first part of the film. It’s a rare film that can cause a visceral reaction like that. I was looking for means of escape. Ma and Jack were captive and I wanted them out. If you read the synopsis of the film, you know that they do get out. They win their freedom! But, it is never quite that easy. And the audience will get to see all of the emotions that come from Ma and Jack seeking their true freedom. Bring tissues.

Captivity and freedom mean different things to different people. We all know some people who represent captivity. We all have lived situations where we can enjoy freedom. Many of us are on our own journey between the captivity and freedom. That’s why this film is so relatable. I think everyone will leave the theater with different views on the themes involved. Catch ROOM when it opens nationwide on November 6.

---

---

If you would like to read the book, here is it:

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.

Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating--a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.