Lenny Abrahamson’s Room is something of an anomaly. More often than not, a film adaptation of a beloved book invariably results in a sub-par reimagining of the source material, butchered and crammed into a digestible two-hour running length. However, perhaps due to the original author Emma Donoghue penning the script herself, the film develops into a beautiful tale of humanity and strength, told with a confidence that manages to not only best its source material, but results in one of the finest films of 2015 thus far.
The film revolves around the relationship between a mother and her son, Jack, who we meet on his fifth birthday. During the beginning of the film, we witness their morning routines and everyday rituals, such as brushing their teeth and eating breakfast. Everything in their life would suggest normalcy, were it not for their setting, Room.
Several years prior to Jack’s birth, Ma was kidnapped from her college campus and locked in a ten by twelve isolated soundproof shed, accessed only by a man known as Old Nick. Over the last five years, the only world that Jack and Ma have known exists between the four walls of Room, with only a single ceiling window to suggest a glimmer of existence beyond. For five years this existence has been bearable, but the remembrance of the world outside proves too much for Ma, and together they find a way out.
To reveal such a plot point would perhaps seem too much of a spoiler, but their experience in Room is only the setting of the scene for the film’s true fascination, which is their acclimation to their place back home. Room plays very much akin to a fairytale—a kidnapped princess is rescued from her long-held captor—but the film is interested in following what happens after the forever after, and how the characters find their place in a world that has evolved beyond them.
Brie Larson, who plays Ma, has proven herself within the last few years to be an incredibly charismatic and versatile performer, particularly evident in 2013’s Short Term 12. It is through her role as Ma that she finds her strongest performance to date, which is truly something to behold.
Additionally, the supporting performances are incredibly strong throughout, particularly from Canadian actor Tom McCamus and Joan Allen, who plays Jack’s grandmother with incredible restraint and genuine heart.
The strongest performance of the film comes from Jacob Tremblay, who acted in the film at the age of six. From opening to the closing credits, Tremblay is the central focus of every scene, and he carries the film with a confidence and talent well beyond his years.
Too easily, Room could have devolved into a melodramatic or cynical mess, but through the wise restraint and grounded direction of Abrahamson, and the witty, delicate writing of Donoghue, the film becomes something of a humanist treasure. This is a film that should not be missed.
Room plays at the ByTowne Cinema Nov. 6-19.
