In a small room, Ma (Brie Larson) is celebrating the fifth birthday of her son Jack (Jacob Tremblay). There are no windows except for a skylight and no obvious door. Jack's understanding of the outside world is limited. It's soon obvious that they are prisoners of a man they called Old Nick. Ma finally tells Jack that her name is Joy Newsome and she was taken when she was 17 some 7 years ago. Jack angrily disbelieves at first. Joy comes up with a daring gamble to escape back to her parents (Joan Allen, William H. Macy).

This is a star-making role for Brie Larson. Her performance in 'Short Term 12' is amazing but little seen. She once again delivers a top-notch performance. She has inner strength and humanity. Jacob Tremblay is a wonderful discovery with his squeaky little voice. It's an almost perfect little film. I was wondering where this movie was going at certain points in the middle but I think it ends in the perfect place.

I watched ROOM because I'm a fan of Irish director Lenny Abrahamson, that's the only reason. The premise didn't really appeal to me, although I'm aware that it's based on various true stories about long-term captivity; if I'm honest I'd rather watch a documentary about one of the cases rather than this attempted fictionalised version. And, truth be told, I didn't like ROOM very much at all. The premise is okay, but there are two problems with this. The first is the running time: at two hours, ROOM is a film which is dragged out. I couldn't help but think it would have worked better as a thirty minute short. I thought the first half was bad, but once the characters actually get out, it really stalls. I know they'll struggle to adapt to society, I can work that out for myself, but I didn't need to see all those dragged-out moments and relationships with other characters.

The second problem is that I hated the characters in this film, and not just the villains you're supposed to hate. Brie Larson gives a non-performance as the lead and the only thing they got right was in making her skin look manky. She's unsympathetic to me, a mother who seems to take a perverse delight in putting her child into danger over and over again, and I found her behaviour quite disgusting. With a proper actress giving a proper performance I might have liked this more. Even worse is the kid: a typically bratty American child whose overbearing and obnoxious attitude makes him no different from all the others we see in the movies. Why do American kids seem so selfish, self-obsessed, and prone to tantrums? Due to this child, the only thing ROOM did for me was to give me a headache. A pity, as Abrahamson's earlier movies ADAM AND PAUL and WHAT RICHARD DID were both very interesting, while this and FRANK have by comparison been chores to sit through.

Marvelous film. Captivating plot filled with mountains of emotions. Brie Larson's performance in this film was breathtaking. Her emotions, facial expressions and tones were perfectly done, which is one of the main reasons why this was such an incredible film. Jacob Tremblay's performance was also amazing.