"We're never anywhere but here."

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2017)

One has to stay with the film a good long while before anything of an uplifting nature comes along. The first part of the story dealing with Ma (Brie Larson) and son Jack's (Jacob Tremblay) isolation is claustrophobic, depressing and downright creepy at times. Their situation would seem nearly impossible to comprehend, though by now we've had real life examples of similar abductions in which the monstrous perpetrator fathers a child. Consider the cases of Jaycee Dugard and Amanda Berry, both hidden away, virtually in plain sight, as is the case depicted in this film.
I found some of the story's concepts interesting, such as young Jack's distorted concept of space and time after exposure to a 'normal' life. The business with the hair and offering the 'strong' to his mother was a unique parallel to the mythology of Samson, and I thought that was cleverly done. I'm on the fence as to why Jack would want to go back to visit 'Room' once he sampled a safe and loving environment, and found it even more baffling that the local police department agreed to accompany him and Ma there.
I'm gratified I stayed with the picture because straining through the early part of the story was very disturbing. This isn't the type of movie one ought to consider for entertainment, as the physical and mental abuse suffered by Ma was as harrowing an ordeal as one might find in a war or hostage film. And even though the story ends on a positive note, it's not with a feeling of joy that one eventually comes away with.