Abducted
seven years ago, a woman has been held captive in a garden shed, repeatedly
raped by the man she calls Old Nick and has become mother to a boy who is now
celebrating his fifth birthday in the only room he has ever known. This one
space is their whole world, particularly young Jack, who has never known
anything but the four walls in which he lives.
Brie Larson
as the abducted woman is brilliant, but this isn't really Ma's story. It's her
son's, and Jacob Tremblay is sensational. Helped by Emma Donoghue's script from
her own novel and Lenny Abrahamson's immersive direction, Tremblay gives a
performance that belies his age and is staggering in its range. He is
completely convincing as a boy who has never known any different, and then who
finds himself in a world that is both endless and terrifying.
This could
have been an exploitative thriller ripped from recent headlines and handled
with all of the sensitivity of a Charlie Hebdo cover. Instead, there is only a
few central scenes that get the pulse racing. The rest is incredibly stirring
and yet still presented with a huge amount of restraint. While most films would
have saved any escape attempts for the climax, Room is concerned more with the
aftermath of such an ordeal, than just the method of escaping. Still, when Ma
puts her plan in motion, it is riveting, terrifying and overwhelmingly
emotional.
The
decision to tell the story from Jack's point of view puts us completely in the
mind of this little boy for whom the outside world might just be scarier than
anything else he has ever experienced. When Room leaves its titular space, it
could be overwhelming, and it sometimes is. But it’s anchored by Tremblay’s
performance and the quiet tragedy of how these characters will forever be
affected by their time in isolation together.
What should
be a horrendous ordeal, both for the characters and audience, becomes something
beautiful and heart-breaking, but ultimately life-affirming.
Watch the trailer:
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