Wonderful - highly original and incredibly emotional

Rating: 10/10 (4 June 2016)

A mother, Joy (played by Brie Larson), and her five-year old son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay), are held captive in a one-room shed. She was abducted by a stranger, Nick, and has been there for seven years. Jack was born there and the room is his entire world. Then one day they escape and get to live normal lives. For Jack, the world he now is confronted by is a very foreign place.
A wonderful movie: highly original and incredibly emotional. Just the initial plot - a mother and her son imprisoned for several years and how they escape - was original enough but then we have the psychological and emotional implications of returning to society (or, in Jack's case, joining society for the first time), and this takes the plot to another plane.
Jack being confronted by and adapting to his new world is wonderfully and very sensitively told. His mother having to deal with all her doubts regarding Jack adapting, and any residual guilt she feels from their time in captivity, is a great, and quite natural, story line too.
Great, emotional ending that perfectly ties up the movie.
Brie Larson got a Best Actress Oscar for her performance and deserved it. Jacob Tremblay, 8/9 years old at the time, is fantastic as Jack, showing acting skills well beyond his age. Solid performances from a supporting cast that includes Joan Allen and William H Macy.
My favourite movie of 2015.