ROOM

ROOM

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson

Review by Allison O’Donoghue

I was late coming to ROOM. I really did not want to watch another film about the kidnapping of yet another young girl. Body/remains found buried in someone’s backyard, while digging up the dirt for an inground swimming pool. Or in some dense forest. Or deep inside some bad lands never to be heard of again. I’ve had enough. I am tired of films depicting women/girls in horrific situations, fighting for their lives. The reality is bad enough. Women and girls are in danger every single day. Every day, somewhere in the world, girls or women go missing. A predator seemingly lurking around every corner. And no way of stopping it.

On one of my insomniac nights - I no longer fight it - I got up, switched on the TV and ROOM was about to start. Ok, I’ll give it a go. OMG!! I was stunned. I immediately watched it again. And since then, I’ve watched ROOM 4 times.

And when Brie Larson won the 88th Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as, Joy “Ma” Newsome, I leapt to my feet and wept with joy. I’ve seen the performances of the other nominees, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlotte Rampling and Saoirse Ronan, who are all excellent, but Brie Larson’s performance as Ma was astronomically brilliant. I cannot use enough adjectives to describe how magnificent she is in ROOM.  

No competition.

Brie Larson accepting her Academy Award for ROOM

 

ROOM is based on the novel of the same name by Irish-Canadian writer Emma Donoghue, (no relation- different clan) who was so confident that the book would be turned into a film, she wrote the screenplay before the book was even published, in 2010. She trusted her instincts. Although, several filmmakers approached her, it was a 10-page fan letter from director Lenny Abrahamson who eventually won Donoghue over as they shared the same creative vision for the film.

Author Emma Donoghue

 

The film opens with opaque glimpses. You see a small double bed, you see a bath tub and sink, a cupboard, a tiny functional kitchen, and it just looks like any old one room bedsit. Cramped, but tidy, every inch has a purpose, every bit of space utilised and functional. Nothing fancy. Definitely needs a paint job. Then the scope expands to reveal more and more of the confines of the space that, “Ma” (Brie Larson) and her 5 year old son Jack, (Canadian actor Jacob Tremblay) live. Maybe she’s a drug addict? Or has a low paying job, and can’t afford anything better.

Jacob Tremblay as Jack

 

They go about the day. Eating breakfast. Brushing their teeth. Rolling up the carpet square to do their exercises. Why don’t they go outside to exercise? Then you notice a heavy metal door with a keypad. Then it dawns on you, somehow they are imprisoned in this small space. They are being held captive. The only natural light in the room comes from a single skylight, which becomes a third character in ROOM. The only other light source is either florescent or a single lamp. They have a small TV showing grainy images of cartoons or old world movies. No news channels. No new movies or sitcoms. Nothing to indicate that the Newsome family are still looking for their 17 year old daughter. Nothing to give Ma hope that she’ll ever be found or they’ll ever get out of this room. Jack knows no different. He was born in the room. He’s never been outside. He thinks this is how everyone lives and Ma hasn’t told him otherwise.

Some days Ma can’t be bothered getting up and going through the motions of helplessness and hopelessness, meanwhile trying to create a normal environment for her boy. Sometimes she just can’t face the day. When this happens, Jack entertains himself as a normal 5 year old would. He gets his own breakfast. He studies the thread and weave of the carpet. He runs around the room, he watches TV until he can bear it no longer, and gets so bored he urges Ma to get up. She does. She gets up. But she’s not happy about it. She barks at Jack for no reason. He tolerates it, occasionally barking back. But you begin to see the intimate nature of their relationship within the confines of the space.

Toronto Pinewood Studios - the ROOM

 

Ma organises and rearranges the cupboard, and turns it into a bed for Jack. Oh, he sleeps in the cupboard? Strange, but Ok, I’ll go with it. Then the sound of numbers being punched into the keypad of the metal door alerts you that someone is about to enter the room. It’s their captor. It’s Old Nick, played superbly by Sean Bridgers. Not an easy role to play, and could be a career killer, but Bridgers does it so well, he becomes just your “ordinary monster”. He’s kept her captive for seven years, they’ve developed a way of relating to each other like a dulled relationship that requires a bit of work to revitalise. They hop into bed. They’re not having sex, she’s being raped again. You realise Jack is a product of the repeated rapes over a seven year period.

One night, Jack wakes and overhears Old Nick explaining to Ma that he’s lost his job and he may not be able to supply her with as much food, not that it’s much in the first place. Ma is obviously malnourished, and Jack is very thin, with long shoulder length hair. No sharp objects allowed. They are both pale, low on vitamin D. After it’s over – a curious Jack opens the cupboard door to have a good look at sleeping Old Nick, who wakes up and frightens Jack. Ma leaps into action trying to protect her boy from Old Nick, who promptly threatens to kill them. Ma realises this can’t go on for much longer. She stays up all night trying to work out a plan to get out or at the least get Jack out. She hatches a plan.

Up until now Jack thinks that room is real and everything outside or on the TV is not real. Ma has told him this to protect him from the reality of their situation. But now she has to reverse his thinking. She starts to tell him what’s real and what’s not. Jack can’t believe her. He refuses to believe her. Ma is blowing his little mind. They snap back and forth for a little while. Ma pointing out real things and not real things. Jack disbelieving. Ma gives up, until she reminds him of his favourite book, Alice in Wonderland and reminds him how Alice goes down the rabbit hole. Jack is a good reader. He’s smart. Ma has taught him well. He starts thinking, and thinking. He starts asking the right questions. Ma’s optimism grows as her plan might just work. She explains to Jack what she is going to do. She heats up water, puts a hot flannel on Jacks face to make him feel hot so that when Old Nick comes back she begs him to take Jack to hospital. But Old Nick doesn’t fall for it – he says he’ll be back tomorrow with antibiotics. Despondent, Ma hatches another plan. A more drastic plan. A more dangerous plan.

Ma wraps Jack in the carpet, tells him to play dead. Old Nick comes back with antibiotics, but it’s too late. Ma begs him to take Jack out of the room, she can’t bear it, she can’t live with his corpse. She begs Old Nick to put him near a tree, somewhere nice. Jack plays dead. Old Nick puts him in the back of his pickup truck - with a shovel. He drives through a residential area, as Jack rolls out of the carpet he is blinded by the failing light as dusk descends. He’s initially completely freaked out. Ma was right, the world is real, and then he hears his mother’s voice and remembers – get out of the truck Jack. Run Jack, run. He escapes and is rescued by a stranger.

The Aftermath

Reunited with her family, Ma discovers her parents have split up and her mother, Nancy (Joan Allen) has a new partner, Leo (Tom McCamus). Her father, Robert (William H. Macy) has moved away. After a short stay in hospital, Ma and Jack return to her childhood home, back to her teenage room, which hasn't changed since the day she went missing.

How does anyone deal with this unbelievable situation? The family would’ve always held out hope that their little girl would one day be found, but not alive, and especially not with a child.

Initially, Jack struggles with the bigness of the world, the enormous space around him, and of course many, many people. Remember, all he has ever known is room and Ma. He has no experience in relating with or to people. But he adjusts. Kids are resilient. And Jack is amazing.

Jacob Tremblay is an amazing actor. He is absolutely astounding as Jack. I’m surprised he wasn’t nominated for Best Supporting Actor – he deserved it.

Ma struggles to adjust too. She doesn’t understand why she’s not happy. She should be thrilled to be free, but she’s not. The family struggle to keep their emotions under wraps, but end up walking on egg shells. Except Leo. He is warm, he is generous, and he has a certain detachment from the situation. Ma is not his child, but he loves her because he loves Nancy.

Not so with Robert (William H. Macy). He is overwrought with emotion. He can’t handle the situation at all. He won’t even look at Jack or acknowledge his existence. This has not gone unnoticed by Ma. She forces him to look at Jack, but he won’t. He can’t. His little girl was kidnapped, all but dead, and Jack is a product of rape. He cannot make the necessary emotional adjustment. He leaves.

Crowds gather outside the house. Television crews amass. Everyone wants a piece of Ma. Everyone wants an interview with Ma. On the advice of her lawyers, Ma decides to talk. Big mistake! It sends her into a deeper spiral of despair, to the point where she tries to commit suicide. Jack is initially lost without Ma while she recovers in hospital, however it gives Leo and Nancy an opportunity to bond with their grandson. Jack decides to cut his hair and give it to Ma for strength. It works. Ma snaps out of it and comes home. Jack saves her again.

He saved her when he was born. He saved her when he escaped. And he saved her when she tried to commit suicide. Beautiful boy.

All the supporting players in ROOM are fantastic. Not one dud performance. I love everything Joan Allen has done. I could watch her watching paint dry, and she'd make it interesting. There is nothing she can't do. Joan Allen is sublime as the traumatised mother of a missing child, and the loving accepting grandmother to her new adorable grandson.

ROOM is heartbreakingly beautiful. Traumatising in every sense of the word, but full of love and hope.

The important message I got from ROOM - a mother’s love, a parents love is so deep, it transcends all.


Now I have to read the book!

 Brie Larson won Best Actress for:  
 88^th Academy Awards 
 BAFTA
 Golden Globe Award
 Critic’s Choice Award
 Screen Actors Award - SAG