For Reel

Director: Lenny Abrahamson

The second half of Room is as daring an experiment as any Hollywood movie this year in that its ambition is to newly discover the world. Once removed from the confines of the titular prison, 5-year-old Jack (Jacob Tremblay) is assaulted by a world where things like trees actually exist, human beings aren’t confined to two-dimensional television sets, and the sense of limitless space is a thing of both awe and terror. Director Lenny Abrahamson and cinematographer Danny Cohen mostly keep the camera in Jack’s perspective in these moments, which involves tight-focus and a deep sense of disorientation–when Jack is confronted with a world larger than Room, his instinct is to lock himself in mentally, focusing only on his hands, his lap, or ideally his mother’s (Brie Larson) face. Despite these flashes of brilliance, not all of the second half of Room works. The ambition to have great character reveals happen through what amounts to therapy sessions is too thinly-sketched. We have to resist watching these people as Jack would–detached, half-confused by the conversation and the implications of them. Regardless, Room is beautiful and audacious, and its aim to take a child’s eye perspective of the world is hugely successful.