a review of 房间

Room has got quite a high IMDb rating, and I was curious what all the praise was about, barely knowing about the movie's subject matter. I liked the level of realism in Room. Everything feels believable, with natural acting. The boy is mesmerizing. He almost makes you feel as if you're watching a documentary instead of fiction. The mother sometimes irritated me a bit, balancing on the border of overacting, which pulled me out of the cinematic illusion here and there. I also missed some character depth in the story. For example, you get to know virtually nothing about the kidnapper. All in all Room was an interesting viewing experience, with some genuinely touching moments. I guess its emphasis on matter-of-factness can be considered both a strength and a weakness — on the positive side the story is not overly sentimental, but on the negative side the lack of real drama buildup also left me slightly unsatisfied.