I had never heard about this movie (or the book on which is based) until I got a call from my cousin inviting me to see it. When I heard its name, my first reaction was “is it a horror movie?”. And she explained that it wasn’t and told me briefly the story. I’ll try to tell as little as I can, because I believe one of the reasons this film had such a huge impact on me was precisely my lack of previous knowledge.

Jack (Jacob Tremblay), a five-year old boy, lives with his mother Joy (Brie Larson) in a tiny room in precarious conditions. The boy has very long hair, is still breastfed, and sleeps inside the closet. Soon you realize they are not there by option: Joy was kidnapped 7 years before and Jack was born there, inside that room, which he believes to be the only thing that exists in the world. He has absolutely no idea that there is an “outside” behind the door.

I had all the possible emotions while watching Room. I was sad, happy, angry, and nervous (almost having a heart attack during a specific scene). Even my cousin was on the edge of her seat and she already knew what was going to happen.

Everything in this film is great, starting with the cast. Brie Larson is so perfect with her portrayal of a young woman who has been through such a trauma that I strongly believe she has real chances to be awarded for this role. Her character is so complex and she’s able to transmit to us the sadness due to the situation and the happiness for having her son with her. And, of course, the boy! Jacob Tremblay is perfect and you can’t help but feel both sorry and sympathetic towards him. He is so genuinely naïve and oblivious of the bad (and good) things in the world that is impossible not to like him.

We were lucky to have him and the author of the book, Emma Donoghue (who also wrote the screenplay), in a Q&A session after the screening of the film! That way, we could hear from him how was the experience of playing a younger boy in such tragic conditions. He said that his parents explained to him that the “the movie is very serious”, so he understands why everyone was in awe with his performance. Emma Donoghue also had the opportunity to tell that she didn’t base the story in any particular one, rather she was intrigued with these types of kidnapping that we hear about in the news more often than we should and that she wanted to explore how it would be raising a child like that.

As I mentioned previously, I was really touched by this movie. So much that I couldn’t fall asleep afterwards, because I kept thinking about the story. And that’s how I know when I’ve seen an extremely good movie! I’m not telling everything that happens because you should really experience it by yourself and let me know later how you felt!

Related posts:

Crítica: O Quarto de Jack (2015) Review: Brooklyn (2015) Review: The Good Dinosaur (2015) Review: Suffragette (2015)

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