I've always had a fascination with real life stories of...well...keeping people hostage in a secret room (of sorts) for months and sometimes even years. It goes along with my interest with serial killers (you can blame C.I - Crime Investigation) for that.
A true-to-life example of this is the Ariel Castro kidnappings, where in three young women were held captive by Castro who raped them on a regular basis, one of the women gave birth to a daughter as a result. On May 6, 2013 Amanda Berry (one of the captives) escaped with her 6 year old daughter, the remaining two women (Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus) were rescued by police.
Castro was arrested and was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape.
This is such an unthinkable and unimaginable story that a pit grows in my stomach whenever I think about it. So it's really no surprise that 'Room' which follows some similar elements would catch my interest. It's unimaginable that the film reflects reality to some degree.
One of the movies up for awards this season, 'Room' tells the story of 'Ma' or Joy Newsome, played by Golden Globe Winner, Brie Larson who is held captive in an 11x11 Garden Shed with her 5 year old son, Jack. The movie begins with a normal day-to-day routine of Ma and Jack, you start asking yourself 'Why are they in the room?' 'How do they live?' then night approaches and you start getting answers.
It seems that the mother and son have a nightly visitor, 'Old Nick' who gives supplies and also has his way with Ma, while Jack is 'sleeping' in the wardrobe.
The movie unfolds to reveal that Ma was kidnapped by Old Nick and has kept her as a captive in the garden shed, known as 'Room' to Jack for seven years.
Larson's Ma will do anything for her son and it soon dawns on to her that it's time that they escape for both their sakes and what transpires is a heart-stopping sequence, that will put any action film to shame.
It's hard to wrap your head around 5 year old Jack who is played by the superb child actor Jacob Tremblay, who won the Critic's Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer for his role as Jack. You have to remember that he was born in 'Room' and has never been outside of it. He doesn't know anything of the outside world. He has never seen clouds, the sky, has never seen a dog and doesn't know how to walk down the stairs. I have to applaud Director Lenny Abrahamson who effectively told the story through Jack's perspective from start until finish.
Tremblay delivers a very convincing performance that it doesn't seem like he's acting at all!
Larson and Tremblay are a dynamic duo and are a force to be reckoned with in their acting prowess and in their portrayal of a mother and son under the most unimaginable circumstances.
9.5 ⭐️ 'Room' is a movie that doesn't bank on special effects but solely on the performance of it's actors and the story of a love so strong that it knows no boundaries.
Directed by Lenny Abrahamson and written by Emma Donaghue, based on the novel of the same title (which I will be reading soon) -From Pioneer Films, the award-winning 'Room' is now showing in cinemas!
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