It has been quite a long time since I have been so emotionally moved by a film the way I was with Lenny Abrahamson's movie Room. It is an extraordinary film that will move you in ways that you never thought were possible. It is impossible to feel just one way about this movie; you will feel all sorts of ways about it.
Room is the story of a kidnapped mother and her son who escape confinement from a room that they have been held captive in. What makes this story even more amazing is that the son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay), has never seen the outside world for reasons which I will not spoil here. This is an amazing movie that works on so many different levels. Ma (Brie Larson) and Jack interact with each other and function like a typical family, and that just about makes you forget about the extreme circumstance that they are in. Watching them together warms your heart, and it is only after Jack goes to sleep at night and we see Ma alone, or with their captor, that we understand their situation. I like the fact that Ma doesn't tell Jack the truth about the outside world until she feels he is ready. She is very protective of her son, and wants the best for him no matter what she has to do.
Brie Larson, in her Oscar-winning role as Ma, is such a complex, emotional tour de force. As much as Ma wants what is best for Jack, we clearly see that being confined in Room is getting to her. However, what makes Brie Larson's performance so extraordinary is that she rarely shows this by crying. It is her body language that is key in showing us as the audience how scary and aggravating being in Room is. On more than one occasion, her performance brought tears to my eyes not only because of what Ma had to do to protect Jack, but also because she knows she has to reveal to him the truth about the outside world which is a truly daunting task for her. We also see, after Ma and Jack escape captivity, that being captive for so long has affected them quite deeply and it is difficult for them to get used to the outside world again. Brie Larson's performance is one that cannot be put into words simply because there is no one way to describe it. It is just that great.
Jacob Tremblay, in a breakout performance, plays Ma's son Jack. It is hard to find good child actors in film, but Tremblay's performance is truly genuine. Because Jack has no knowledge of the outside world, it is amazing to see how much fun he has in Room. When we finally do see him escape, you are at the edge of your seat because you want him to get to safety, and he knows he has to but he is also soaking in everything around him. Also, at the end of the movie, Jack misses Room so much that he even asks to go back there to visit just so he can say goodbye. It was great to watch Tremblay as an actor just being himself as a kid in this movie, and he and Brie Larson have great chemistry together.
Joan Allen and William H. Macy play Ma's parents, Nancy and Robert. What is key about their performances is how differently they react to the fact that they are now grandparents. Nancy is very accepting of Jack, and she even cries when Jack tells her he loves her. Robert, on the other hand, cannot even look at Jack. There is a scene at the dinner table that shows us how truly great William H. Macy is as an actor. He does so much with his eyes that you end up sympathizing with his character.
Lenny Abrahamson is the director of Room. I love the way he filmed this movie because, while Room is a very confined space, the way he films around it makes it feel like a wide open space. This movie could have easily felt claustrophobic, but instead you feel a bit like Jake because Room feels bigger than it actually is. The parts of the film at night with Ma and their captor, Old Nick, are filmed like a horror movie which, again, makes us feel the way Jake would feel. In contrast with the scenes in Room, every scene after their escape is filmed in wider shots which is a great visual metaphor that symbolizes their freedom. This is a truly well-crafted and remarkable directorial effort.
As I mentioned before, it is hard to get through Room without shedding a tear. Even though the movie clocks in at just under two hours, it instead feels like a truly emotional story of epic proportions. This is a heavy movie, though, so I would watch it on a dreary day.
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