Please note: whilst there won't be any details which haven't already been revealed in the film's marketing, some of those details may be considered spoilers, so if you wish to see the film completely spoiler-free I recommend reading this review after you see it.
Real life stories such as the one represented in awards-contender Room always tend to be a harrowing experience to hear about because of just how simple and terrible the whole affair is – being taken with little trace and with no way of getting away from your captor, only to be discovered or finally escape a long time later and discover how much the world has changed since you were taken. Of course, these stories tend to lead to huge rallies of support, but the very notion of someone to take another human for their own usage without consent remains a horrifying notion. So with the adaptation of Emma Donoghue's award-winning novel of the same name comes the difficult task of being not only a strong recreation of the book (helped by the factor that the author also wrote the screenplay) but also of representing such an occurrence in a respectable manner. Judging by the awards buzz, you'd be right in thinking they did an alright job.
For five year old boy Jack (newcomer Jacob Tremblay), the entire room consists solely of one room – the area he sees above in the sole form of daylight is outer space; the images he sees on TV are all fake; and with the exception of his fellow captive and mother 'Ma' (Brie Larson), the only other person he knows who just so happens to be able to conjure up objects from thin air is 'Old Nick' (Sean Bridgers) who he stays away from under the instruction of his mother. His mother has bene a captive of Nick's for about seven years and on multiple occasions has tried to escape, but now that her son is old enough to understand things as major as the situation they're in, she plans an escape involving Jack, with the following events that transpire revolving on not only the return to the world for Ma but also on Jack discovering just how different things are outside of Room.
Room is structurally split into two halves – the first hour focusing on the lives of the two Newsomes in that little room that they have to call a home and their escape from Nick's clutches, followed by the two returning to civilisation; transitioned with the film's most intense and emotional sequence of events. While may will likely complain about the length of either act's runtime as having some easy areas to cut, what remains in what we see is in actuality the right amount of coverage of their lives before and after the escape; Jack's cluelessness to there being anything wrong with the world against his Ma's uneven capability at being a mother in these circumstances, followed by Jack's experiences with this new world and all these other people while Joy (Larson) comes to grips with not only how much the world and her family have changed but also coming to terms with her skills in this new but familiar environment. Also elevating the film is the little tidbits of humour injected into it through Jack's innocence ("Dora [the Explorer]'s real?") in both of the worlds he lives in – not making fun of the situation, only making the events feel all the more real.
Visually, the film does a great job at making both worlds feel large, with the room in question slowly feeling like a larger landscape for these two single people to be entrapped in and making it feel all the more shocking once you finally see the outside of it, whilst the glimpses of Jack's first interactions of anything bring about a sense of whimsy to it all. Not only that, but the colourisations are incredibly well-decided also, with the dank bleak dark colours of Room against the bright colour-filled world of the other side. Director Lenny Abrahamson (who also directed 2014's underrated Frank, fact fans) has done a marvellous job.
Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay both give off award-deserving turns as the two Newsomes ensnared from the public eye. Larson's multi-layered Joy is an astounding character to watch interact with the good and bad she comes across with, and is practically a shoo-in for the Oscar later this awards season; whereas as the wide-eyed Tremblay may have a few too many moments of screaming about things, but considering he's, you know, a young child, he can be let off from that mild factor. As far as casting goes, he's an incredible discovery. Joan Allen as Grandma Newsome gives off a good performance as the worrisome and relieved character who's reunited with her child; William H. Macy as Joy's father is sadly given less to do, especially considering the storyline given to him which gets barely any coverage and is quickly disposed of; Tom McCamus is rather likeable as family friend Leo who tries his very best with the situation; and Old Nick himself Bridgers is relentlessly creepy in his role.
Room is a highly-satisfying character piece which succeeds in adapting the hit novelisation of the same name and tackling the subject matter of abduction and escape, thanks largely to the strong performance son hand and the direction of one Abrahamson. It's dark, it's intriguing, and above all else it's never slow or dull. Some characters could have been given further detailing, but it's still a strong production. 9/10.
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