If you’re looking for a bit of light, escapist fare to ease the stress of self-isolation, Lenny Abrahamson’s Room is probably not the film for you at this time. It certainly wasn’t for me, but such is the joy of podcasting when your co-host decides to take a very literal approach to our latest themed season of films about being trapped…
Adapted from a bestselling novel by Emma Donoghue, Room stars Brie Larson as Joy, a young woman in her early twenties who has been kidnapped and help captive in a small garden shed for the past seven years. Her captor, known only as ‘Old Nick’, visits only to provide supplies and routinely rape her, which at some point led to the birth of her now five year old son Jack (Jacob Tremblay), who has been raised with no concept of life beyond his tiny prison.
It’s a thoughtful, sensitively made movie anchored by two truly extraordinary performances from Larson and Tremblay, but as an audience member it truly puts you through the emotional wringer, particularly during the second half that focuses on Joy’s struggles to adapt to the outside world after a truly bonkers escape plan inexplicably pays off.
Finding appropriate comedy beats while discussing this movie was the biggest challenge this podcast has faced since I forced Harry to sit through Dangerous Liaisons, but tune in to hear how we fared – including an update on our self-isolation coping mechanisms, the scenes that reduced one of us to a blubbering wreck throughout this rewatch and of course our attempted sequel pitches.
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Next week, something a touch lighter hopefully! Until then, stay safe, stay hygienic and happy listening!