Well-rounded films such as Lenny Abrahamson’s Room don’t come as often as they should. Most films of 2015 were very strong in some aspects but very weak in others. With the exception of a few films such as The Revenant and The Hateful Eight, many of last year’s movies ended with a sour taste of dissatisfaction and emptiness.

Arguably the most well-balanced film of the year was Room. Every aspect of this film delivered an equal amount of brilliance. The screenplay, written by Irish-Canadian playwright and novelist Emma Donoghue, is emotionally stirring and sentimental in the purest of ways. It’s nearly impossible to not get completely dragged into the world, or room, rather, that these characters are living in for half the movie.

The way the film is put forward as a combination of all the elements of writing, directing and acting, works shockingly well. The work of Abrahamson is very clever and really captures the audience’s emotions to make a strong, unexpected impression on the mind.

Perhaps the most unique and prominent aspect of this film is the breathtaking performance of Brie Larson. Her Golden Globe-winning portrayal of a mother desperately trying to free her son and herself from the confines of a garden shed they’ve been trapped in for  seven years is chilling. The stand-out performance also earned her an Academy Award nomination which she is a strong favorite to win. Larson makes her role seem so familiar and intimate by the end of the movie, you feel like you’ve known her character for years and that you were with her the whole time on this journey of freedom and rediscovery.

The completely bare boned nature of this film makes it absolutely horrifying and leaves you deep in thought far after it’s finished. When we are first introduced to Larson’s character, she is woken up by her son (Jacob Tremblay). The state we see her in is not a physical state we’re accustomed to seeing actresses in by any means. For a majority of the film she is wearing no makeup and her face looks unwashed and unkempt. This is such a startling asset to the film, and as soon as one starts to get accustomed to it, she and her son leave “room” and are forced back into the real world, where she begins to wear makeup. This is more startling than the realization that she never had any makeup on to begin with because it shows how absolutely destructive such a traumatic experience can be.

It would also be a huge mistake to overlook the exemplary performance by Tremblay, which is one of the best performances by a child actor in many years. The way he speaks to his mother is so moving and powerful and really takes one back to a time in their life they may have acted the same. Pretending to rediscover a world he’d never really left is no easy task for any actor, let alone a nine year old. However, Tremblay does an excellent job in convincing the audience that he literally just escaped a shed and was thrust into a world of confusion and unfamiliar surroundings and voices.

This film is really something special. This plot is one that could have really taken a turn for the worse, but through excellent directing and a superb cast, this film somehow manages to defy the expectations by presenting such a humane view of the relationship of this mother and her son. This beautiful and touching film is one that fully deserves its four Oscar nominations and will hopefully earn Larson her first Academy Award for a perfectly executed performance.

Rating: 8/10