Taken from the book written by Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue Room is an unusual tale of Joy Newsome, (Brie Larson) a mother who is held captive along with her son Jack, (Jacob Tremblay) in a sparsely filled room within a shed in the back garden of the man who abducted her years before. The only interaction with the outside world that they have is through a small television, a skylight in the roof through which they can see the sky and the regular visits from the mothers captor.

The first section of the movie, while a little slow moving, does a good job of showing the bond between the characters while both director (Lenny Abrahamson) and cinematographer (Danny Cohen) do a great job in showing not only the claustrophobia of their situation but also the strength and resolve Larson shows in trying to protect her son from the real horror of their situation. When it becomes apparent to the mother that her captor is becoming more dangerous as the boy is getting older the pace of the movie really starts to pick up and the performance of Larson as the tragic figure of the abducted woman is superb as you feel her terror, anxiety and despair in equal measure. She realises that they need to break free from their prison before things get even worse, leading to a desperate plan where Larson is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice on a throw of the dice, so that they may escape.

From there the tale switches to their re-adaptation to the world and the progression of Tremblay in his adjustment, growing as a person while his mother struggles, and if anything regresses, back to almost childish ways. The movie is also hugely helped by what feels like a genuine bond between the mother and son acting team who are wholly believable as the captives and even more believable as part of the family unit trying to bring some normality back into their lives. Huge credit must go to Tremblay, who never actually seems to be acting and who unnervingly treats each new experience with the awe and wonder you would expect of a kid thrown into the world and his reaction to his return visit to his prison at the end of the movie is near perfect.

While the movie does take a while to get going and some of the content could be classed as disturbing, overall the theme is one of hope and endurance even when faced with horrible odds and it’s easy to see why this is on the shortlist for so many awards.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6.5 out of 10