Cast:
Brie Larson
Jacob Trembley
Direction:
Lenny Abrahamson
Synopsis:
ROOM is a profound story of a mother, raising her son in captivity. They are kept captive by her abductor and tormentor, in a shed, with no windows except for a skylight, their window to the sky. How they escape their ill fate and later cope in the real world forms the crux of the story. It is a tale of endurance and boundless love between a mother and her child.
Highlights:
Though this movie is rated R for the strong, mature content (captivity, physical and mental torture), the narrative is through the eyes of this 5 year-old boy. He is the star here and it is all about what he sees – good bad and the real ugly too. Even though this child is a witness to menace and torment, the innocence in this little child is brought out in every scene. For example, this boy diligently says Good Morning to each and every inanimate thing in the ROOM every morning – as they are all his friends; the world that exists in TV is not real for him.
In this movie, the ROOM plays an integral part and becomes a protagonist. It is in this room the child is born. It is here that the mother and son create their own world and spend time as they have been kept locked in this ROOM (which is nothing but a shed) for seven years. The only other person that comes into the room is their captor. He keeps the only door to this ROOM always locked (with a digital code). Though this ROOM is right in the middle of a nice neighbourhood, no one even knows that this mother and child exist in this shed.
The way the mother teaches her son the existence of an outside real world – the wall of the ROOM and the inside-outside concept, which he talks about later in the movie when he is free and in the real world – he says, each wall leads to another and yet another wall is there outside.
The director has taken utmost care to depict some of the minor details – like how the boy adjusts to the free world; he was born in captivity and has never seen an actual house – the way he struggles for climbing a flight of steps; how he marvels at the world outside the big window at the hospital; and how his eyes are not adjusted to the sunlight and he has to wear sunglasses; etc.
Clever use of fetal position – per psychologists, if someone is in tremendous mental pain or is extremely frightened, they curl themselves into the fetal position. The primary position while in the safety of the mother’s womb. A number of times both the protagonists get into this position showing what they are undergoing without exchanging any words.
The boy is only aware of one safe person – his mom. To provide comfort to this boy, the mother gives him her broken tooth, so that he could carry a part of her always, as his guardian angel. When they devise the plan to escape, he clings to this tooth as a part of his mother; he keeps this tooth safe and shows it to his grandmother at another instance in the movie, telling her that his mother was always with him.
When the mother and son return to the ROOM one final time, escorted by the police, the boy very casually says, “The room has shrunk”. This is so true, in our day-to-day lives. Once our knowledge increases in any area, what we originally knew would become negligible. It shrinks. These are such powerful words that we can all relate to and might have used (when we move from a village to a city, the village actually shrinks in our perception).
Lowlights:
Though I couldn’t find anything wrong in the movie, the only thing that could be deemed, as flaw is the explanation given for the abduction. Would a 17 year old be so naive to walk with a stranger to help a puppy? That being said, it is very well possible as 17 is certainly the age when kids want to behave as adults and can very well get themselves into trouble.
Acting:
Brie Larson absolutely deserved the Oscar that she got. The way she showed her frustrations, her pain all through the eyes and facial expressions is just amazing. It will haunt you for a while. The two scenes (according to me) that will be etched in the viewers’ memory for sometime are –
- the one where she is freed and she meets her son; they see each other through the window of the police car – the son inside and the mother outside, with blaring sirens.
- the one last time that the mother and son visit the room; the son says goodbye to each and every item in the ROOM and leaves, just very casually, while the mother stares into the room – what a haunting look…
Jacob Trembley, the Vancouver wonder is just a delight to watch. He has got some of the most powerful dialogues in the movie and he delivers them with so much ease, in a very matter of fact way. He is innocence personified. The way he is content in the ROOM and how he shows his anger and fear is simply amazing. Words aren’t enough to praise this young actor. No particular scene can be quoted as the best for Jacob Trembley’s character. Every scene he is in, is a gem and can tell a tale on its own, giving you Goosebumps.
Supporting casts – have all done their job to perfection. Each person very apt for the role – be it the tormentor that oozes menace and sadism in his looks; the mother who has gotten her little girl (now grown and with a son) back after many years and want to support her; the mothers boyfriend who is very inviting and tries to bond with the little boy; the girl’s father who is not able to accept the truth in his little daughter’s life.
My Verdict:
This is neither a tearjerker nor a movie that preaches about right and wrong. Immerse yourself, get involved and watch this movie. You will come out with a heavy heart and a lump in your throat. Certainly NOT to be missed.
5/5
Post Script:
Just a while ago, I had written a poem on “Lost Souls” based on those people that have gone missing. In Canada we have a number of people that go missing each year. Many are found and returned safely to their homes. For quite a few, unfortunately it is their mortal remains that are found. However, there are a few that are never found and their files are closed as unsolved cases and their families never have a closure.
This movie, “The ROOM” which is about one such missing person, made me wonder as to how many such missing persons are held captives in a shed or a basement – right in the middle of any wonderful neighbourhood – that we cannot even imagine and our senses would deny to accept.
Would we ever find them all? Would there be a closure, ever for these Lost Souls?