Jack (Jacob Tremblay) is five. Today is his birthday. Yet he begins everyday as if it’s a celebration, greeting the various items in the room. “Good morning, chair, good morning table,” etc. He’s only known the inside of this small space, his entire life, sleeping at night in a cupboard. That’s because we soon learn that his mother, Ma, (Brie Larson) was kidnapped five years ago. And they’ve lived here ever since. He was born in this room.
Have you ever wondered what happens to the young abducted girls once rescued? This is that story. Reminiscent of Deep End of the Ocean, the story tells the journey of life on the outside. But that’s after they get there. First Jack and Ma read books, they bathe, play imaginary games and homeschool. And then, one day, they plot their harrowing escape.
When someone is that bonded in the world, they’re inseparable. So, when the real world of trees and freedom is introduced to Jack he’s frightened but mesmerized. Until now he’s only known “TV world” and thinks anything outside the walls are fake. This vivid inside-his-mind encounter is based on a brilliant screenplay by Emma Donoghue. The only life outside ‘Room’ that Jack has ever known is the rain on the skylight, or the lone fallen leave that occasionally sticks there as seasons change.
Once outside, the issues of all the family dynamics come into play. Ma’s own mother (Joan Allen) rivals with the ‘would’ve, should’ve, could’ve’ circumstances. Her dad (William H Macy) is having a hard time excepting his new grandson, a product of rape. And our hero, Ma, is having trouble with connecting the dots from where life left off as a teenager amidst cheerleaders and prom dates, to that of a mother, in her twenties….five years of her life snatched. Post-traumatic stress is a serious thing, and we never see what happens to these kidnapped girls beyond the cameras and fanfare that eventually simmers on the news. And from their front lawns.
This is a movie that keeps you glued to your seat, when not grasping its sides. It makes you imagine beyond the usual life or death situation. It’s death or freedom. Brie Larson’s performance will put her high on the list of Oscar nominees. ♕ ♚ ♛ 1/2