Lenny Abrahamson’s “Room” is poignant. “Room” is evocative. “Room” is devastatingly beautiful. There is magic in creating a world from a child’s perspective. To capture and display the innocence, the purity, and the sheer amount of confusing vastness of the world is no mean feat. Writer Emma Donoghue, who is also the writer of the book that the film is based upon, and director Lenny Abrahamson manage to do just that.

The film opens with a mother and son, Joy and Jack—portrayed by Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay—navigating their confined lives in a small room, scraping for resources yet finding comfort in their unbreakable bond. That is right. In a single small room (which is later revealed to be a garden shed with a skylight as the only source of sun). The reason behind this ordeal is that Joy had been abducted by a person referred to only as ‘Old Nick.’ Old Nick keeps Joy and Jack, who is his biological son, sans any means of communication with the outside world and has them live a life devoid of any hope of going back to the world.

Without revealing much about what happens next in the film, it can be said that what follows is one of the heart-wrenching and heart-warming stories about love, innocence, and those little joys of the world that we often overlook. There is a slight tonal shift in the second half as the tension of escape and sweetness of the love between mother and son gets replaced with Joy facing the reality of the world. But the change is in coherence with the story and that helps in underlining the difficulty underwent by both protagonists, especially Joy. Even without reading the book, I must say that the screenplay immensely helped in establishing the dichotomy of the emotions the protagonists go through. Lenny Abrahamson’s direction complemented that aforementioned dichotomy. The first act was shot quite meticulously in a closed room, thus providing a sense of foreboding and an urge for escape.

Although bolstered by a good support cast the film largely centers around the mother and the son. Brie Larson, whose hitherto best performance perhaps had been in the largely underrated 2013 film “Short Term 12,” churns out a superlative and breathtaking performance as the mother. The role is a delight for an actor of her capability and she makes the character her own. Restrained and gritty while being captive in the room and yet lovingly playing with her son. Vulnerable and fragile, being captive of her own thoughts and insecurities, while trying to get her son attuned to the big world. Brie Larson shines throughout the role.

But, the film would not have been so pure, so emotional, so magical without the brilliant performance of Jacob Tremblay, as the 5-year-old boy. It is one of the finest performances from a child I have ever seen. The fear of the task her mother asked, then the taste of freedom, then again the intimidation of the vast world that had hitherto been unknown to him. We feel everything through the wondrous performance of Jacob Tremblay and when he so genuinely smiles in the film seeing a ‘real’ dog for the first time, it becomes difficult to hold tears back.

At this point, it would not be fair if Stephen Rennick’s score was not mentioned. The music, with the appropriate usage, bolsters the scenes and helps the film in taking the audience for the ride. “Room” is a film that provides its audiences with a perspective of life and reality that we often ignore, and for this very reason, it is a film that should not be missed.

★★★★½

Author: Suvo Pyne

About Author: An avid art lover, in forms of film, literature, music, or painting; although not claiming to have knowledge in all forms of art. Nevertheless, love all kinds of art, especially films. As a hobby started writing movie reviews for safekeeping only, then started sharing them on social media for obvious reasons.