Room (2015)

Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Screenplay: Emma Donoghue (based on her novel)
Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay 
Music: Stephen Rennicks
Time: 118 minutes
Bottom-line: A terrific film, albeit a distressing watch 

If it weren’t for the powerful performances of Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, Room would have certainly been an unnoticed masterpiece among this year’s films. Nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture and Director, Room emerges as the film with perhaps the simplest plot and setting, but the most touching story.

Joy “Ma” Newsome (Larson) is a 24-year-old mother living with her five-year-old son Jack (Tremblay) in a garden shed they call “Room”. Joy was abducted by her captor – Old Nick – seven years ago and has been living in Room ever since. The mother and son share a bed, toilet, bathtub and the only way light enters is through a skylight. Despite being raped often by Nick when Jack’s sleeping, Joy tries to overcome her depression to stay optimistic for her son. When she finds out Nick has lost his job and cannot support them anymore, she decides to introduce Jack to the “world outside Room”, and use him as a means to escape. How they manage to do so, and later survive in a changed world is what the film is about.

Larson as Ma/Joy

The main theme of the film is the relationship between mother and son. The mother is an undernourished, depressed female who has brought up her son by convincing him that Room is all there is to the world, and the rest of the world is just something seen on TV. The son is someone so intimately acquainted with Room and his Ma that actually escaping from the Room is out of the question for him. We see how Joy teaches her child the concept of the “world beyond Room”, and how desperately she tries to train him to be the instrument of escape. The second half the film deals with the after-effects of depression. Jack talks only to his Ma and doesn’t respond to anyone else. Joy attempts suicide after a news reporter makes her feel guilty of not letting Jack into the normal world when he was an infant. I felt that the story could have been a little longer, by giving a little more detail about how Jack develops as a child and how Joy recovers from her trauma/depression; the ending seemed abrupt.

Tremblay as Jack

Brie Larson’s performance clinched her almost all the major acting awards, with barely any competition too! Known earlier for her supporting/lead roles in only a few major films, her career is certain to reach the sky after Room. At the outset, she wins our admiration when we see how she’s has trained Jack into believing that Room is the world (after all, what else can a mother do when trapped in a room for five years with her son?) and keeping Jack happy with whatever they share. Despite her own pitiable state she tries her best to keep her son jovial. She plays a character who is not the “perfect Ma”, but under the circumstances, she is what any child would have needed. Jacob Tremblay’s performance is one of the best by a child actor. The nine-year-old is highly impressive, with his ability to perfectly transition from one mood to another, and to portray a child who is introduced to the world only at five. His inquisitive expression to follow whatever’s going on around him is so authentic!

Room is not really a comfortable watch; in fact it could be the Best Picture nominee with the most depressing story. But the way it is presented on screen, powered by two heartfelt, committed performances by the lead actors will transform you in the course of two hours. Room introduces to two of the most powerful characters among this year’s films. This is one mother-child relationship that will remain in your memory for a long time to come!  

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%