{"id":2872,"date":"2016-01-31T16:37:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-31T21:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2872"},"modified":"2024-08-30T18:12:29","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T22:12:29","slug":"room-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2872","title":{"rendered":"Room-2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Room-2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Lenny Abrahamson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #373<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"80073823\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed January 31, 2016<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Room (2015) is a compelling story of a woman’s battle in captivity with her five-year-old son in tow.<\/p>\n

The film also tells of the after-effects of reclusive living as they both strive to adapt to their changing world.<\/p>\n

Receiving a slew of Academy Award nominations, the film is more than a one-dimensional story of peril or rescue, but rather, a smartly woven tale that delves into the psychological issues involved with being confined in a room for years, giving the film a deeper meaning.<\/p>\n

Room is adapted from the novel of the same name, written by Emily Donoghue.<\/p>\n

We meet twenty-four-year-old Joy (Larson) and her five-year-old son Jack, who live in squalor in a shed made into one room. They exist from food and supplies delivered by their captor “Old Nick”, who abducted Joy seven years prior.<\/p>\n

He periodically rapes her and is Jack’s father, though there is no affection on either side. Joy has attempted escape before but has failed.<\/p>\n

She is determined to break free once and for all and allow her and Jack a normal life.<\/p>\n

In the first half, we learn about Joy and Jack and how they exist and forge a life together. Joy tells Jack they are real and the outside world and people on television are not.<\/p>\n

They live in a fantasy world and Jack periodically treats objects (chair, toilet, bed) as real-life things, giving morning greetings to these objects- this is both cute and sad. His only channel to the outside world is a small skylight, which he endlessly gazes at.<\/p>\n

I love how the film\u00a0suddenly changes course at the halfway point and shifts focus to the aftereffects taking a dark,\u00a0complex, psychological turn.<\/p>\n

The first half takes place entirely in the “room”, and suddenly, a new world has blossomed. A monumental event changes the course of the film.<\/p>\n

From this point, the film deals with the traumatic effects of being shut away for years. Joy suffers from depression. Jack sees a new world. We see how other characters deal with the turn of events.<\/p>\n

Joy’s parents, wonderfully played by Joan Allen and William H. Macy react in completely different ways.<\/p>\n

How have their lives changed because of Joy’s abduction? Will they see Old Nick every time they lay eyes on Jack? How will Joy’s mother’s new boyfriend react?<\/p>\n

There is a strong theme of coping throughout the film and how all the characters cope with life events and attempt to resume a life of normalcy. There is such a unique humanistic feel to the film that makes it deeper than I would have expected.<\/p>\n

Sure, Brie Larson gives a dynamic performance, but the film offers reflection and thought.<\/p>\n

The direction and camera work are a marvel. We see a blurred view of what Jack sees in “the real world”.\u00a0 It is almost like the audience is reawakening to life and we see it through a child’s eyes- the sights, the sounds.<\/p>\n

Jack has created an imaginary dog in his mind and the film introduces more than one real dog that plays a pivotal role. We see Jack’s joy and terror at the new experiences.<\/p>\n

Room (2015) encompasses thought-provoking ideas making what might only have been a basic story and turning it into an intricate journey into human psychology through many different nuances and facets.<\/p>\n

What a wonderful, dark experience this is.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-<\/strong>Best Picture, Best Director-Lenny Abrahamson, Best Actress-Brie Larson (won)<\/strong>, Best Adapted Screenplay<\/p>\n

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 2 wins-<\/strong>Best Female Lead-Brie Larson (won)<\/strong>, Best First Screenplay (won)<\/strong>, Best Editing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Room-2015 Director Lenny Abrahamson Starring Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay Scott’s Review #373 Reviewed January 31, 2016 Grade: A Room (2015) is a compelling story of a woman’s battle in captivity with her five-year-old son in tow. The film also tells of the after-effects of reclusive living as they both strive to adapt to their changing … Continue reading Room-2015<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240,3434,192,41,211,5416,1959,5415,1916],"tags":[241,3440,193,73,212,5418,1965,5417,1917],"class_list":["post-2872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2015-movie-reviews","category-brie-larson","category-dramas","category-indiefilms","category-indie-dramas","category-jacob-tremblay","category-joan-allen","category-lenny-abrahamson","category-william-h-macy","tag-2015-movie-reviews","tag-brie-larson","tag-dramas-2","tag-independent-films","tag-indie-dramas","tag-jacob-tremblay","tag-joan-allen","tag-lenny-abrahamson","tag-william-h-macy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2872"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20506,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2872\/revisions\/20506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}