like watching a really good trainwreck.

Rating: 9/10 (11 March 2017)

there are those films, like 'Schindler's list', that as magnificent as they are, only one viewing is all you can handle. this film is so brilliantly and subtly done, I can sit through it over and over. it is emotionally exhausting, yes, but also SO rewarding. everyone in this film brings their A game to this film, particularly Jacob Tremblay, whose acting ability and vulnerability makes the movie especially Beautiful. Academy Award Winner Brie Larson is exquisite as Ma/Joy, a complex, complicated, nurturing mother but also brutally traumatized kidnap victim and sexual assault survivor. At first I wondered what people were talking about when they said Ma was 'such a good mom' to Jack, as she has her bitchy moments almost from the start of the film, but then i stepped back and realized I'd be that way too. To expect the character to come away unscathed is just unrealistic, but for the years she's in Room, she does a great job sheltering her son from the realities of life until its unbearable. To the people that say Jacob was robbed of an Oscar nomination at least, i would agree, but i would also remind them that doesn't mean Brie's win was not deserved. Her character was MUCH more complex. It's easy to play a kid unaware of a situation, its much harder to play a character that has to deal with the trauma of an event once they're free, and they've got other people watching their kid, so they can just fall apart. I know a lot of people worry about this film and what you see, but as its from the son's perspective, you don't have to worry about anything gratuitous. A Gem of a film I wish everyone would see!