I'm a fan of the cinema, obviously, but you rarely see me get out to the indie theater to find a film that I hadn't seen a trailer for, didn't really know much about, and due to the description of the film felt like it wasn't a movie I would enjoy. For movies like these, I generally wait until awards season and see what gets nominated that I absolutely have to see. However, there has been an influx in Oscar buzz for a few films that all seem to be related to me in my mind. The films are Brooklyn, Carol, and finally, Room. All are films I probably wouldn't take time to seek out and spend money on first (especially when I know Krampus is coming out today!), but all have been generating some serious Academy water cooler talk and all of the have a 95% or higher on rottentomatoes. So, Room showed up at the indie theater that is literally walking distance from my place and I decided I'd give it a look. And I'm sure glad that I did.
I knew that Brie Larson was a fantastic actress. This is no secret by now. Even in comedic roles like 21 Jump Street or Trainwreck she's still a marvel to watch, but it's her work in more serious roles (especially Short Term 12) that really showcases her talent. Larson returns in Room as a woman kidnapped seven years prior, now with a five year old son, Jack, living in a what essentially amounts to a shed. The room is tiny with a small bed, a bath tub, a toilet, and a sink. These are the only four walls that she has known for seven years and the only four walls Jack has ever known. She tells him tales and lies about what's real (everything in room) and what's just television (everything beyond it). It's when Jack's Ma starts to fear for the life of her son that she decides to tell him about the real world and help plan his escape. I'd like to be able to describe more of the movie for you, and you may already know a little more about the plot, but this was essentially the information I had when going into it and it made the viewing experience that much more exceptional.
What Room does so spectacularly is have the ability to take an extraordinarily dark subject matter and not completely make us feel like shit when exiting the theater. Even though what has happened and what is happening to our two main characters is, in all sense of the word, awful... that's not what the film decides to focus on. It decides to focus on the resiliency of our characters and the love that ultimately saves one another. The movie is told from the perspective of five-year-old Jack. Throughout the film, we get his voice and point of view as the narrator, getting insight into the whole experience not just from a child, but a child who has never known the real world in his entire life. He's seen trees, and leaves, and oceans, and other people only on a small fuzzy television. These can't be real things because the kid, other than through a tiny skylight, has really never even seen the sky.
The movie could've taken a different path once the two get out of room and focused on getting revenge for time and life lost, focusing on the legal side of taking down the captor, it could focus on Ma getting back to a world she hasn't seen in the good part of a decade. But, no... it focuses on two survivors (one who has never known a world as big as this) trying to find happiness again and only being able to thrive because of one another. Jack, in room, is this loud (sometimes obnoxiously) boisterous young kid who isn't afraid to speak his mind. But, once in the real world, he's a scared little kid sometimes unable to even muster up a voice to speak what's on his mind or what he desires. The world is infinitely larger than anything he could've ever imagined and watching him come to terms with what's real and the Earth's expanse is truly an exciting, yet heartbreaking, sight to see.
Jacob Tremblay, who plays Jack, in his first onscreen role, is tremendous. He's a natural and nothing about his performance feels forced. He's just a kid and because the first third of the film we've come to know him as loud and powerful Jack, once he's back in the world and becomes a silent scared five year old, we almost find him frustrating because we know he's capable of bigger things. We know he's capable of communicating what it is he wants and needs. Tremblay is able to play Jack as believably, childishly, rambunctious, but also restrained and subdued. Brie Larson also turns in another dazzling performance as well. She's all but dead inside and this is made clear in every look she gives, but it's her love for Jack that ultimately saves her and gives her the strength, not just to escape room, but to keep going once returned to the world.
I highly recommend this to anyone who can stomach the subject matter, because like I said, the film does a wonderful job not focusing on the dark aspects of the plot. It's truly a story about the love a mother and son have for one another. A love so strong that it transcends any other obstacle forced upon them. And while it will almost certainly bring you to tears in certain scenes of the film, it's not manipulative in any way and it never lingers on a single moment long enough to elicit every tear and emotion from your body. It's goal is to tell a story, not deceive you into fully losing your shit. This movie will undoubtedly be up for some kind of Academy Award, but it's in theaters right now. Unless you're headed out to see Krampus (which I most certainly am), the next movie on your must-see list before Star Wars should be Room.
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