Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Sean Bridgers
Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Room is the story of a girl held captive for more than six years. She is raped and impregnated. She also delivers a baby in captivity. This boy stays with her in captivity till the age of 5, before the duo finally escape their captor, a pervert who keeps them confined to a tiny room without windows. The room has a steel door with an electronic lock that can be opened with a code. It’s like a prison cell with a little more amenities and much more isolation.
Emma Donoghue, the novelist, who also wrote the screenplay, has a very powerful sense of narration. The story is narrated from the 5-year-old’s perspective. In captivity, his only exposure to the world is a window on the roof that shows just the clouds.
Wondering how to introduce the world to the child, his mother spins stories about them being the only people on the planet and the TV in their room being just images. The room is just enough for them to survive, a mini toilet, a bath tub and a little more space, just enough for the child, Jack, to run around.
A mother introduces her child to the world from its first sensations — to the air it breathes and the first taste of solid food. The story is a very sensitive narration of how the mother and child relationship is indeed most special.
Looking at those lives contained in a capsule, one realises how intimate the relationship is and it definitely sends you back to the memories of your childhood, moments that still collect themselves when you are scared of the world, when you really need that strength and inspiration to get up and walk after you have fallen.
Putting yourself in Jack’s shoes, you realise how special the first sensations are: when Jack and his mother are recovering in the hospital after their rescue; the first time Jack steps on a floor not part of the room he considered his world. The kid’s response to blinding sunlight is an indication to us to open your eyes and be more aware of our surroundings. The excitement of rediscovering everything as a child would be immense.
Lenny Abrahamson has taken a minimal approach to this story — it does not burden you with special effects or extravagant sound. Jacob Tremblay, who plays Jack, is an exceptional talent and so is Brie Larson as his mother. Room is a captivating story that seems to grow inside you every time you watch it and it makes you relish those fine sensations that you take for granted all the time.
The writer is founder, Lightcube Film Society
