Member review

The Room (2016) shows an inspiring and heart breaking story from the opinion of Jack (Jacob Tremblay) whose whole world is concentrated around the 11 by 11 foot room where he lives with his mum (Brie Larson). Jack has learnt all he knows just from the small tv and his mum but is quickly realising the reasoning for his living in the room and the kidnap committed by old nick while discovering quickly that there is more to the world than the concrete walls around him. The film was simple and yet truly harrowing focusing hugely on the specific characters and analysing them so they felt like someone you had met and yet someone so deep that you felt privileged to be invited into there brains. The positive of adapting a book is that a lot of character development in revealed however having read the book myself I was still able to connect with every single character on a deeper level.

Brie Larson however enlightened me with her talent letting the audience see right through into her thoughts and yet remaining strong and mysterious while displaying the hardships and frustrations of motherhood and how once something tormenting and traumatising has hit you, your life does not shrink back to what it was originally like. Jacob Tremblay also showed a touching and hopeful air to the screen while creating the childlike joy and oblivion to the dark areas of the world.

This film stretched away from the usual Productions of trauma by concentrating on the aftermath of escaping and how publicity and attention is sometimes the last thing needed. It showed a contrast to the happy ending of escaping a trap by showing that, although this was an imprisonment, it was safer than the real world to them.

Many would see this film as far too simple and sometimes dull, the exciting storyline deadened by them escaping too early and that this production should have been a short thriller or horror. However I found the joyful scenes of family between the mother and son in the room intricate yet simple, creating an atmosphere of love that related forwards towards the contrast of the new big world. One improvement I could of made was to show the father, whose story is just as mysterious, to have more of a future and either reunite with the family or at least develop more the reason for his leaving.

Overall, However, the simplicity of the shot, clever use of music and naturalistic cinematography as well as the truthful, honest acting gave one the experience of leaping into the lives of others while creating a heart wrenching family story of a traumatising event and the hardships of being in the public eye, quite deserving the Nominations for an Academy award and Winner for Best Actress.