Larson star-turn will leave Room full of Oscars...
Room (15A) Time: 1hr 57mins
If Frank was an occasionally wobbly transition to a wider audience for Irish director Lenny Abrahamson (Adam & Paul, What Richard Did), his latest feature, an adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s 2010 novel Room, is an altogether steadier affair and just might be in the running for an array of awards come Oscar night. It has already been nominated for three Golden Globes, has scooped Best International Film Award and People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival.
Room doesn’t show its hand early. Abrahamson understands that even those who haven’t read the book will be familiar with the Josef Fritzl story that it is loosely based on, and so teases out information and pieces together its terrible backstory at its own pace. Ma (Brie Larson) and Jack (a terrific turn from newcomer Jacob Tremblay) have been locked in a room ten-foot-by-ten for five years (Ma an extra two). Jack knows nothing of life outside this room other than Old Nick (Sean Bridgers, heard more than seen), his mother’s captor and rapist, and his father, who arrives sporadically bringing nourishment and menace. To keep Jack’s spirits up, Ma encourages her son to use his imagination while shielding him from the horrors she has long since numbed herself to.
Despite the use of a voiceover, and Abrahamson working hard to make the room – or Room as Jack fondly calls it (‘Good morning, Room,’ he says upon waking) – a character, Room The Film isn’t as internal or claustrophobic as Room The Book. Adapted by O’Donoghue herself, Abrahamson’s approach is a more observational one, presenting the situation as is – rather than with comment. Indeed, the rapes suffered by Ma are kept off screen, snatches of movement and sound seen and heard through the slits of a wardrobe Jack is bungled into when Old Nick comes calling.
But then, as the trailer gleefully shows, comes the escape. In a brave move, Room opts to release its captors much earlier than expected in a thrilling, nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat sequence. As unpredictable as this second half turns out to be, O’Donoghue and Abrahamson really miss a trick, however. There’s a dinner scene with Ma’s mother Nancy (Joan Allen), and father Robert (William H. Macy) where Robert can’t bring himself to even glance at Jack. We can only assume he sees the boy as something tainted and Macy’s reaction, representing the unspoken ugly thoughts of larger society, could and should have been the launch pad for the rest of the film – a meaty exploration of what might be behind the gushing of support and sympathetic smiles. But Abrahamson and O’Donoghue frustratingly drop this as soon as it is introduced and what’s in its place doesn’t have the same power.
But Larson’s performance sees one through any shaky moments. An internalised, damaged turn, Larson’s veers from emotional distance to spikey sourness. It’s a lived-in performance and a starmaking one.