Writer: Emma Donoghue
Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers
A kidnapped mother and son make a daring escape, and experience a dramatic homecoming provoking a look into the power of imagination and the unstoppable force of a mother's love.
The IMDB synopsis that I listed above is a load of horseshit. I went into the film without knowing anything about it and it completely blew me away. With the title 'Room' and a mother and her son being the protagonists had me expecting a film like 'The Babadook'. The film doesn't really get into the reason for their confinement till about twenty minutes into it. I was thinking it was a 'Village' like situation with the mother showing some vileness. When he turns five, she thinks he is old enough to know that the world is not contained to their room and there are other real people outside. She also reveals to him that she was kidnapped as a teenager and was confined to this room. She plots an escape plan for them and it succeeds in getting themselves freed. This happens without any cheap cinematic twists and all of it happens by around half way into the film. It still manages to be exhilarating and will certainly well you up. Normally you would expect a film to end there but this one is more ambitious as it also dwells into how they adjust back into civilization.
Brie Larson deservedly won the academy award for her portrayal and I think the kid should also have won it or at least nominated. I also can't fathom why it wasn't a serious contender for 'Best Picture' award in what was really a mediocre year for mainstream films. Maybe because they handled it in an adult manner without being too manipulative. Film is an adaptation of Emma Donoghue's novel with the same name and she also wrote the screenplay for it. The basic plot of people getting kidnapped and living in captivity is quite a common occurrence in USA and you will wonder why no one thought of making a film on it. Lenny Abrahamson was quite an odd choice to be the director for this film as his previous one, 'Frank', was quite a different breed to this film. The color tone in both films are quite similar and while Frank ended in a very melancholic note, Room is much more hopeful.
Rating: 5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment