Emotional and Intense with Strong Characters

Rating: 8/10 (28 January 2016)

'Room' tackles a very dark and complex subject matter. It is centred on a fictional incident of a man abducting, imprisoning and raping a young woman for several years. There are many ways a writer or a filmmaker could approach this topic. Some may choose to play up the abuse to invoke a visceral reaction from the audience while others may focus on the resulting media blitz.
'Room' does depict both the abuse and the media reaction but it does not dwell on them. Instead, its main focus is the relationship between the woman, Joy, and the son she birthed in captivity, Jack. This is a great way to approach the premise as it allows the audience to get to know them, which makes us care for them. In some moments, I found myself rooting for the characters and hoping that they would succeed. In others, I felt bad for them when they irrationally acted out in anger instead of feeling annoyed. These well-developed characters are brought to life further by two very strong performances. Brie Larson (Joy) and Jacob Tremblay (Jack) bring out the emotional depth to their characters that makes us empathise with them.
Although Larson has been touted as the lead of the film, Joy shares the position of protagonist with Jack. Many shots were filmed at low angles including those from Jack's point of view, allowing us to see the world from his perspective. This directing choice also makes Room, the name Joy and Jack gave to the garden shed that acts as their prison, seem a lot bigger than it actually is, reflecting how it makes up the entirety of Jack's world.
To top it off, there are montages that feature voice-over narration by Jack, which reflects the images on screen. Unfortunately, I found myself focusing on the visuals and missing the narration. I don't know for sure why I did this. Maybe I wasn't in the mood to listen to prose read aloud. I'll have to wait for my second viewing to get a definite answer.
The one complaint I have that does feel definite – although minor – is the music that accompanied the start of an important sequence. The piece of music was designed to be emotional and intense in a way that would be more appropriate for the climax of such a sequence. Fortunately, the sequence did become emotional and intense as it progressed. I admittedly find it difficult to connect with characters on an emotional level but the time spent developing the characters made me feel the impact of this scene.
I will need to watch this film again before saying I loved it but I definitely liked it a lot. If you are looking for an emotional film with strongly written and acted characters, seek 'Room' out when you can.