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'Room', a story of imprisonment told through innocent eyes
A scene from Room shows Jack (Jacob Tremblay) sleeping on the floor with his mother Joy (Brie Larson)
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A scene from Room shows Jack (Jacob Tremblay) sleeping on the floor with his mother Joy (Brie Larson). The film's low-key techniques, combined with Larson and Tremblay's humble yet audacious performances, are able to create an intimate and humane cinematic experience. (Photo courtesy of Room) (Jacob Tremblay) sleeping on the floor with his mother Joy (Brie Larson). The film's low-key techniques, combined with Larson and Tremblay's humble yet audacious performances, are able to create an intimate and humane cinematic experience. (Photo courtesy of Room)
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span class="inline inline-center">A scene from Room shows Jack (Jacob Tremblay) sleeping on the floor with his mother Joy (Brie Larson). The film's low-key techniques, combined with Larson and Tremblay's humble yet audacious performances, are able to create an intimate and humane cinematic experience. (Photo courtesy of Room)
What if the world that you knew consisted only of a room with four walls and a ceiling? For Jack (Jacob Tremblay), a five-year-old boy imprisoned from birth with his mother, Joy (Brie Larson), the room he lives in constitutes the whole universe. Such is the premise of a powerful, heartbreaking new film entitled Room.
Joy has been held captive for seven years by a guy called Old Nick in a garden shed without windows except for a narrow skylight. She is used as a sex slave by Old Nick. When she gets pregnant, Jack is born into the room.
Despite its small space, the room offers many fascinating places for Jack to explore; under the table, inside the wardrobe, in front of the sink, in the bathtub, inside a rolled-up rug, or under the bed. Scale is no longer absolute for the boy as long as he can create things to play with and is accompanied by his mother. Everything that Jack sees on the room's small TV screen remains unreal until, one day, Joy plans a scenario for Jack to escape.
Adapted from Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue's 2010 award winning novel, which was inspired by similar true-life crimes, Room is told through Jack's innocent eyes and voice, and soon enough the audience begins to find the small, dull space transformed into a expansive universe of fun and wonder during the first half of the film.
When Jack is finally able to escape and Joy is rescued from the garden shed, the story rolls into a different yet more complicated journey, especially for Joy. For Joy, being free does not necessarily makes her happy even after she goes home and reunites with her parents. New conflicts arise in the second half of the film as the abduction case attracts media attention and immediately puts her in the spotlight, vulnerable to public judgment.
And despite being a free boy, Jack repeatedly asks his mother to take him back to the room that was their home. Tensions also build up between Joy and her (now divorced) parents while she struggles with her own depression and guilt.
Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, Room contains tremendous emotional power and a taste of reality. The emotions of Joy's suffering, her fear, her depression, her anger and her unconditional love for Jack, are felt deeply by the audience.
The movie was written by Donoghue herself, and is among the nominees for the Best Adapted Screenplay category at the 2016 Academy Awards. Room is a film steeped in realism, and the film focuses brilliantly on the natural dynamics between the main characters.
The film's low-key techniques, combined with Larson and Tremblay's humble yet audacious performances, are able to create an intimate and humane cinematic experience. It also manages to spark important questions about human resilience and survival and leaves the audience thinking even after the credit titles have rolled. (kes)(+)
