Joy (Brie Larson) has been held captive for seven years in a soundproof room.
Her five-year- old son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) has never known anything outside the room.
Now that Jack is old enough to understand the situation he has been raised in, Joy devises a plan to escape their captor.
We say, “Room is extremely effective.”
TAYLOR: I was moved several times in this film. I’m a sucker for movies with sad kids, but I think anyone would be. Room has a high tension-to-release ratio that repeats and then makes you develop an understanding for the damages done to mother and son, the two main characters. It is simple yet deep, sad and yet happy.
Room is a story that could have been told in any time, in any place. It is universal and never ending. We all love our kids. We all create lives out of what life we’re given.
HOWE: What a movie. We have been doing this for four years now and I can honestly say that this is the most moving film I have seen since I started reviewing. I can’t remember a movie that has had me well up so many times or had me on the edge of my seat, silently screaming for the little boy to get away.
TAYLOR: Jacob Tremblay’s performance was very good, but they also captured what it was like to be him, via cinematography and editing.
The overwhelming nature of everything outside the room is made very clear and makes for an interesting cinematic experience.
The film is also very subtle. Great passages of information unfold in expressions or offhand comments. I’m sure subsequent viewings would reveal even more. This is a very well thought-out, extremely well made film.
HOWE: Do you know if the Academy Awards has an age restriction for best actor nominees, because for the life of me I can’t understand why Jacob Tremblay (by the way, he’s from Vancouver) has not been nominated. If I was DiCaprio, Bryan Cranston and the rest of the nominees, I would be very relieved. Amazing performance from a nine year old.
TAYLOR: The realness of the different reactions their family has for this very unusual situation makes for a fascinating character study. Everyone was very well played. Everything really came together for this film. I can find no fault.
HOWE: Larson’s performance as Ma is worthy of an Oscar nod alone.
Joan Allen, William H. Macy and Tom McCamus play their roles effortlessly as the parents having to deal with not just the relief of finding out their daughter is alive after seven years, but are also grandparents and each dealing with how the whole saga has affected the family. Fantastic movie.
– Howe gives Room 5 slices of cheese on toast out of 5.
– Taylor gives it 5 numeric codes out of 5.
Reel Reviews with Peter Howe and Brian Taylor appears in The Morning Star every Friday and Sunday.