Room - Movie Review

Two evenings ago my partner and I went out on only our 3rd 'date' in 3 years. We were invited to attend a preview screening of Room the movie. We left emotionally drained and utterly exhausted, but thankful we'd accepted because it was really an amazing movie.

Released on 15th January, Studiocanal's latest movie, Room, is directed by Lenny Abrahamson and stars the young actors Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay. It's so powerful and well-acted that it really does do justice to the best-selling novel from Emma Donoghue on which it is based.

Room tells the story of a young woman kidnapped and held in a single Room for several years. During that time she has a child, and when he gets older they realise they can't carry on forever, so plot to escape. They succeed, and unlike most stories which end at this point, we follow them and find out what happens next.

Lets be brutal. The last 3 years have been horrific for my family. We're battered and bruised and in no way out of the woods. My partner and I have always watched a lot of movies and we've found in the last couple of years that we feel differently about a movie ending. We don't see the heroine strolling off as a lone survivor of a zombie apocalypse as being the lucky one, we know she's broken, we want to know what happens next. To see a movie which focusses on 'what happened after they won' was actually cathartic and refreshing.

Room is a heavy movie, I cried a lot. The whole theatre cried a lot. It's a very intelligent movie and you are not spoon-fed any of the plotline. You are placed in the position of the main characters, barely knowing anything, and life happens to you, you have no control. You are confused and full of questions, and cannot help but empathise.

Room carries a 15 certificate in the UK, 'adult' themes are kept off camera or implied as you are put into the position of the young boy who doesn't really understand during this time, and this makes it a very sensitive movie, completely without sensationalism.

I think for most viewers Room will offer an insight into things they may never have considered, and hopefully will never experience. It shows how damaged you can still be, even if you appear to have escaped from your nightmare. It looks at human relationships, and how they change under pressure and during or after disaster. It also shows that time and care can make a huge difference.

Despite all of the heartache and pain you feel for the characters involved - the young woman for all that had been taken from her, her parents for the loss of their child and years spent in limbo, and her son for everything he missed out on - the film ends as you'd hope, with hope, and smiles.

Definitely worth watching, beautifully and naturally directed and acted.