Brie Larson delivers a commanding and authentic performance.
Alfred Hitchcock went to great lengths to hide the twists and turns in his masterpiece, Psycho, from potential viewers.
He purchased almost every copy of the novel that served as the source material so it wouldn’t fall into the public’s hands. He made the cast and crew promise they wouldn’t discuss the plot outside the set, and he ran a clip after the closing credits urging audiences not to divulge any of the film’s secrets.
Director Lenny Abrahamson would have been wise to go to similar lengths for his masterful thriller, Room. Based on Emma Donoghue’s 2010 best-selling novel of the same name, Room is one of those movies that’s best experienced without any prior knowledge of what’s about to unfold.
What I do feel comfortable telling you is that the film opens with a mother (Brie Larson) and her young son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay), waking up and going about their morning routine in their cramped living quarters known only as “Room.”
They appear to be just like any normal family, but clues scattered throughout the opening sequences — including Larson’s sullen eyes and colorless complexion — hint that their lives are not as normal as they seem. And why does the room have no windows and only a skylight?
It doesn’t take long before Room turns into a chilling horror story that will keep your heart racing and leave you squirming on the edge of your seat.
Larson delivers a commanding and authentic performance. She is asked to display a wide array of emotions, and she does so flawlessly. Larson showed great depth and range in her breakout role in the criminally underseen Short Term 12, but here she is even more impressive.
Equally as spectacular is Tremblay, who makes you forget he is only a 9-year-old with little acting experience. The wrong actor could have turned Room into a disaster, but Tremblay imbues Jack with just the right amount of fear, skepticism and innocence. And Larson and Tremblay play off each other to show the power of familial love.
After watching everything these characters have to go though, you might feel like you just finished a 12-round boxing match with Mike Tyson in his prime. It will leave you battered, bruised and exhausted, but it’s unlike any other moviegoing experience you will encounter this year.
