Review of Room (2015) by Filipeneto — 02 Jan 2021

When I didn't know if there were films that could surprise me, this film was able to do that. I believe that it is not a perfect film, there are some flaws and weaknesses in the script, if we have time to analyze it more deeply. After some reading I realized that the film is based, very vaguely, on a real situation that occurred in Austria just over fifteen years ago, and that it was a true horror film turned into reality.

The film is profound and touching in many ways. First, because it brings us a cruel history of deprivation of liberty, rape, abuse and suffering. Second, because it tells us all this from the innocent perspective of a child who has never seen the world beyond the room where he was born, and where he lives imprisoned with his mother, at the hands of a cruel man, who is also his biological father, but that the film will make clear that he is not the boy's father. And in fact, what father would deserve to be treated as such after doing something like that to a son, isn't it? The film is truly beautiful and elegant, and wonderfully harmonizes the child's perspective, who sees the world and things in his own way, and the mother's perspective, which is basically ours too, and who has a clear sense of what is happening and the drama they're experiencing.

Despite the harshness of the story told, the film never assumes itself as a thriller or a drama. In fact, there is a touch of fairy tale that greatly softens the tone and ambience. At no time did we feel truly tense, despite the situation of the characters being tense and not envisaging much success. The second half of the film is even smoother and more luminous, and shows how mother and child will try to rebuild their lives and their families after all that tragedy.

The film does not have a big cast, and the characters have plenty of time to develop and take on complex psychological nuances and contours. The most developed and interesting are clearly the Mother and her son, Jack. And Brie Larson was amazing at how she brought this desperate and brave mother to life. She was capable of one of the most breathtaking and professional dramatic and interpretive works I have seen in some time, and deserved the awards she received for this film in all fairness. Jacob Tremblay, who brought Jack to life, also deserves congratulations. Apparently, and despite his young age, he already had some experience as an actor when he made this film, but there is no doubt that we rarely see actors so young shining so completely. He did a better job than many adults would have done, I am sure of that. And the way both actors interact in front of the camera is magnificent, dignified, credible and genuine. I also really liked the work of Joan Allen and Sean Bridgers, although the film does not reveal what happens to the villain, who just disappears.

Technically, it is a superb and intelligent film. One thing that I observed carefully, and that I did not want to miss, was the quality of the dialogues, in particular Jack's monologues, in which he makes very pertinent and intelligent observations to the world around him. It is wonderful to enter the child's mind and see the world through his eyes. Cinematography is equally extraordinary, especially in the first half of the film, due to the way the camera manages to convey the feeling of being in such a limited space. The setting and the smallness of the entire physical filming space clearly helped and the construction of the whole set and costumes was also a smart bet on the part of Lenny Abrahamson, who ensured the direction of the film. It is a slow-paced film, with time for many reflections and ramblings that never seem to be too much in the film. The soundtrack is quite good, but it does not distract us from the essential, which is the story told and the relationship between that mother and her child, and between that child and the new world that opens up for her.