An Innocent Take on A Dark, Multifaceted Story

Rating: 7/10 (11 February 2016)

DISCLAIMER: This review is an analysis, please keep in mind.
The film Room tells the story of 5-year-old Jack and his mother, Joy, told in Jack's perspective. All of his life, Jack has lived in a small world known as "Room," which his mother convinces is his reality, and that everything beyond is fantasy. The room is small, fixed with only a bathroom, a small kitchen, a television set, and a skylight. They essentially live in an average bedroom.
To the audiences, it becomes apparent that their living situation is much darker than Jack perceives it. Through her sugar-coated stories, Joy explains to Jack why they are in "Room;" Joy was abducted as a teenager and kept in a security-locked garden shed by a man only known as "Old Nick." When Jack becomes old enough, Joy uses him to finally free the two of them from their prison. From there, Jack experiences the outside world for the first time and begins adjusting to his new life beyond "Room." What makes Room such a great film is that it places the audience into the world of Jack. It lets the audience experience how Jack comes to know "Room" as his whole world, and how he processes seeing the real, outside world for the first time. The photography employs hyper-focusing on objects in "Room" to accentuate Jack's familiarity and never shows the outside world until Jack finally escapes. From there, the direction of the film manages to make the audience feel so acquainted with Room that everything else seems alien for a moment.
The film is multiple films at once, which is a good thing. The entire premise of the film touches on Platonic themes explored in the famous The Allegory of the Cave and incorporates those themes into a contemporary issue, making it philosophical. At the same time, the film deals with the emotional drama and friction that occurs not only with Jack, but also with Joy. Joy struggles with trying to teach Jack about the outside world, as well as trying to gain her family's acceptance of Jack, since she is dealing with the fact that Jack is Old Nick's child, while dealing with the media circus surrounding her story. The film details the emotional experiences and side effects that occur when one leaves the world and sees it for the first time again. It's philosophical, psychological, and emotional.
Fantastic performance from Brie Larson as Joy; she encapsulates the deep emotional scars that her character carries from Room. She takes on multiple roles as Joy; a strong mother figure for Jack, but also a helpless, adjusting woman to her family. Jacob Tremblay gives an excellent performance as Jack as well; he helps bring the film's innocent perspective to life and provides a great emotional dynamic and contrast to Joy.