Review of Room (2015) by Byron B — 20 Nov 2016

This should not be confused with the trashy The Room. Author Emma Donghue turned out a screenplay of this story before she shifted to a novel format. The novel was published in 2010 before the news of Amanda Berry and Ariel Castro in Cleveland came to light.

Since the film is set in Akron, Ohio the story definitely has the feeling of being ripped from the headlines. A young woman is kidnapped, kept captive, and raped repeatedly by a man known as Old Nick.

Amidst this trauma she tries to raise her son to not despair. From Jack's point of view, which is the opposite of precociousness, the trauma of being kept captive with a limited grasp of the wider world outside the one room shed leads to an extreme innocence to balance all the heartache.

His child's innocence offers some truthful observations that were at times refreshing even though his Ma and her family face a darker spirit of hurt and healing. Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay as Ma and Jack lead us well through several stages (survival, escape, reintroduction, breakdown, strength and expectancy) in this tale that moves from small scale to big picture.

It touched my heart and ultimately brought closure to the characters lives.