Review of Room (2015) by Kyrah F — 15 Dec 2016

The beginning of this movies seems very normal as if, it's just a mom and her son getting ready for the day, but you come to find out, their morning, afternoon, and nights are spent in a cramped room. Room is about a mother who was kidnapped by a man they call "old nick". A couple years later he impregnates her with her son Jack, even though he is the offspring of her captor. she still loves him with all her heart, because Jack has been with her through most of it, and their bond is unbreakable. Old Nick has never met his son Jack because the mom is very protective of him and won't let him touch him or even speak to him. Every night when the captor comes back, he comes into the room, that is when the mom puts Jack into the closet, to hide him from "old nick". The mother has been put through horrible mistreatment for seven long years, and is still remaining strong but not for herself, for Jack.

What helps the mom and her son to escape reality, they make up fairy tales, and are very imaginative. The mom has lied to her son all his life, she told him that the room is all that there is in the world, and there is nothing else. This makes the boy become attached to the room, because it is all he has ever known. He wakes up everyday and says things like "hi" "hello" or "good morning' to inanimate objects like a lamp or a tv, or even a rug. The mom soon comes clean and tell him the truth one day while they are watching tv. The little boy and the mom talk about dogs on the television. jack thinks since he has never seen a dog that it is not real, and does not exist, he thinks that everything in that room is what exists. The mom tells him yes there is a dog, and it makes him angry, she explains to him how there is a whole universe and earth he has not discovered. Jack now has a hard time telling what is real and what's not, or what exists and what doesn't, leaving him very confused and hateful.

The mom soon decides she has had enough and she has Jack help her devise a plan to escape, but it's going to take Jack's help, jack does not think he can do it, or go through with the plan, but the mom's faith in him pushes him to go through with their plan. Their plan involves Jack pretending to be sick due to lack of nutrients, and sunlight, which has weakened his immune system, jack and his mom pretend that he has died so she wraps him in a rug, and has old nick go and bury him. Now him and his mom practiced how to escape from the rug, so he can essentially escape and jump out of the back of the truck. Jack is in the truck and successfully escapes the rug, but is mesmerized by the sky seeing it for the very first time, he just stares at it in awe, but then wakes up and remembers the plan, so he jumps out of the truck, but Nick heard him and chases him, but luckily Jack bumps into a police officer, that rescues him and the mom from their captor.

They eventually move into their grandparents house once they are some what ready. Facing the world is going to be a challenge for these two especially Jack who has never faced the world ever, being born into captivity. Jack has a hard time being away from his mom because he is used to being so close to her, but now she is free to do what she wants. Jack's grandfather holds resentment towards jack simply because he is the offspring of the mom's captor. Jack has to adapt to his surroundings, and so does his mom, even though they are out of captivity, the movie still does not get any happier, the mom has severe depression and Jack still has a hard time learning what is reality from fantasy, the mom and jack are still really close. Jack not being old or educated enough to understand what has happened to the mom, he holds resentment towards her as if it is her fault. This triggers the mom's deep state of depression and she tries to end her life, but fails. The mom recovers, and while she was away the grandparent's looked after jack and just told him more lies which did not really help his situation. The mom comes back to her son and they try really hard to mend their bond back to how it used to be, and they do.

In conclusion, this is an outstanding movie from the perspective of people who are kidnapped, what they go through, how they handle it, although it varies from person to person. This movie is a great example of how love can get you through the worst of situations. The mom and her son showed bravery and courage when it came to facing every day being locked up in the room, but when it came to the outside world they were fearful and scared. Their bond was still there but they were slowly drifting apart. They were a team, and together they could get through anything if they got through that. There is nothing more special than a bond with a mother and her son, and if the mother had not been kidnapped who knows if their bond would have been so strong, who knows if she would have cherished their love so much if they had not been kept in that room. This is one of my favorite movies, and I will always appreciate its rawness, and its truth. This world is full of terrible things, which make you value the greater things way more than you normally would, just how jack appreciated the sky more, not because he has never seen it but because it was something good and beautiful.