Heartwrenching yet surprisingly uplifting..

Rating: 9/10 (23 January 2016)

Room was a film that i was very intrigued to see to the extent i actually did go out of my way to see it. I knew barely anything about it, i had seen the trailer a good few times in front of other movies but i never looked into it a great deal. It is one of those rare films that never strikes as something that would be worth going out of the way for, until it is actually released and then you think about it and realise you in fact do want to see it because it peaked my interest a great deal. With that being said, i do not regret my decision. It is a film i highly recommend in fact.
First of all, Brie Larson stars as the main character, a young woman who was abducted from a young age and is forced to raise her son who is now five years old in a confined space that they deem 'room'. She gives us an incredible performance, i had only really seen her as Jonah Hill's love interest in 21 Jump Street, but she is so different here that it is hard to recognise her without prior knowledge of who she is. The stand out however is young Jacob Tremblay who plays the young boy Jack. I will say this now, he is really going places and will be a big star in the future if he carries on with performances like this. As a child actor his performance sucked me in as much as the big nominations currently in the Oscars. Whilst being vague, when you actually get to see him experience the outside world for the first time it really brought tears to my eyes because he plays the role in such a way that you really believe he has only known that one plave his whole life. For example he sees 'Old Nick' (the man who is keeping them captive) as a sort of magical being who brings them clothes etc. Because he has never even seen another person in his life. This makes it all the more interesting when he experiences real life people for the first time.
At it's core the film is really a powerful story about the bond between a mother and son, but as well as this it is a metaphor for life itself and how we can take it for granted. With such amazing performances from the two leads it became something really special and whilst it is shocking and heartwrenching in places by the end it becomes a real uplifting, inspiring gem. As much as it may be tempting to ignore this film in favour of all the terrible comedies January is notable for, please don't. This is a film that must be seen. When i first saw it i thought maybe it dragged on 5 minutes too long, but in fact looking back i wouldn't take anything out. It shows us that nothing is more powerful than love and for that alone it deserves to be seen.