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The quietly intense drama "Room" grabs the viewer's heart by fiercely evoking the universal truth that every child, at first, sees his or her mother as the whole world — until, gradually, the child sees what else is out there.
For 5-year-old Jack (played by newcomer Jacob Tremblay), that truth is quite literal. He knows no world other than the one room in which he and his Ma (Brie Larson) live. Every morning, Jack says hello to the sink, the rug, the TV set and all the other things in "room," as they call their living space. Jack believes, because Ma told him, that there is nothing in the world but "room" and the sky through the skylight, and what's on the TV is on another planet.
The only thing that enters and leaves "room" is Old Nick (Sean Bridgers), a shadowy figure who controls the door to "room." When Old Nick comes in, Ma has instructed Jack to hide in the wardrobe.
One day, though, Ma tells Jack that she, like Alice before she fell into Wonderland, used to live outside of "room." She gives Jack new instructions, to escape "room" by playing dead the next time Old Nick comes back. Jack is confused, but he follows Ma's orders.
We in the audience, because we are not 5 years old, understand what's happening, and soon the details are filled in. We learn that Ma was kidnapped at age 17 and has been held captive in a backyard shed for seven years — and that Jack is the product of Old Nick raping her.
After spending nearly an hour inside "room," the movie moves on to what happens when Ma and Jack are freed — with Ma re-entering the world and introducing a wide-eyed Jack to things and places he's never known. While TV news crews hover in the distance, Ma fills in the blanks of the past seven years: her parents' divorce, her mother Nancy (Joan Allen) marrying their neighbor Leo (Don McCamus), and Ma's father (William H. Macy) unable to deal with what's happened.
Director Lenny Abrahamson ("Frank") and screenwriter Emma Donoghue (adapting her own novel) show much of this emotional story from Jack's point-of-view. With the help of an astonishingly genuine performance from Tremblay and a small amount of oblique voice-over, the movie sensitively captures the child's sense of wonder at the wide world and his desire to keep Ma from disappearing into the suddenly bigger picture.
"Room" also gives Brie Larson — who starred in the indie movie "Short Term 12" and played a wealth of supporting parts (as Amy Schumer's married sister in "Trainwreck" or Mark Wahlberg's love interest in "The Gambler"). Larson never gets caught acting in a showy way, and her natural, unaffected performance — of a young woman battling self-doubt over what's best for Jack — is gently heartbreaking.
As remarkable as Larson and Tremblay are individually, it's the interaction between them that takes "Room" to its emotional heights. Their depiction of a mother and child, supporting each other through horrific captivity and sudden freedom, is a joy to experience.
Twitter: @moviecricket —
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'Room'
A mother and child experience captivity and freedom in this gently intense drama.
Where • Area theaters.
When • Opens Friday, Nov. 20.
Rating • R for language.
Running time • 118 minutes.