A Superb Collaboration

Rating: 9/10 (2 September 2018)

A young woman (Brie Larson) and her five-year old son (Jacob Tremblay) live in the confined "room" of the title with only a ceiling skylight and a TV as their access to the outside world. As the story progresses, the viewer learns of the bizarre and heinous circumstances of their situation. The movie is based on the novel by Emma Donoghue who also wrote the screenplay. While it takes place in the U.S. , the film is a Canadian-Irish co-production.
When I read the superb novel a few years ago, I hoped it would be made into a film with similar impact but I wondered, is it possible? The answer is an absolute yes thanks to the sensitive directing by Lenny Abrahamson, his brilliant cast, and Donoghue's perfect adaptation.
The film follows the book's premise of seeing the story only through the eyes of the young boy. In the book, the interior life and thoughts are illuminating. Luckily, Abrahamson, Larsson, and Tremblay convey similar impact in the film version meeting the challenge of keeping the viewers' attention within the dingy and limited space of the room.
The movie's climax happens in the middle, creating an almost entirely new story. It provides amazing insights such as the awkwardness and disillusion that can happen after a presumably positive change. Here again, Abrahamson's attention to detail and subtlety say so much with so little while continuing to get great work from Larson and Tremblay and also from the always dependable Joan Allen.
The last scene seems bizarre at first but is understandable considering the trauma of the main characters. It's a perfect result of the other great scenes that precede it and it leaves one's heart wide open.
Tremblay gives one of the best child performances since that of Victoire Thivisol in "Ponette" (1996). He and others boost "Room" to be one of the best movies of 2015.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT: Directing by Lenny Abrahamson