ckollerer
This is not a Hollywood mega-film: no major stars, no supermodels, no fun. It is a serious independent film with real-to-life actors. It presents an offbeat story which thrusts us viewers into the tortured, schizoid mind of Julia Baker. It is a helter-skelter ride from an overstressed working mother in Texas to the shattered person she becomes, alone in her personal, confused hell in New York.She is compelled to find the large, spacious "room" she dreams of. She abandons her family to follow cryptic, hallucinated clues to find this "room". It ends with a blurred, double-visioned hallucination, which takes her (and us) looking down at something, who knows what, very close up. The blurred vision continues to look down from a perspective spinning upward into space. That alone is worth the price of the film rental. It is very unsettling to be sent on this schizophrenic journey way out of reality. But it is a masterful inside, experiential view of schizophrenia, apart from actually being schizophrenic. It is totally absorbing. Check your reality at the theater door.If, however, you have a Hollywood movie mindset and no appreciation of where writer-director, Kyle Henry brilliantly wants to take you, you're apt to think this movie is a totally plot less, bizarre, incomprehensible, incoherent trip to nowhere. And a total waste of time. And you should pass on this one.As a refresher, I include here a quote from a helpguide.com article on "What Is Schizophrenia":"Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that affects the way a person acts, thinks, and sees the world. People with schizophrenia have an altered perception of reality, often a significant loss of contact with reality. They may see or hear things that don't exist, speak in strange or confusing ways, believe that others are trying to harm them, or feel like they're being constantly watched. With such a blurred line between the real and the imaginary, schizophrenia makes it difficulteven frighteningto negotiate the activities of daily life. In response, people with schizophrenia may withdraw from the outside world or act out in confusion and fear."
jrowe100
Ouch. Wow. Terrible. Simple film that is so dull and boring with no rhyme or reason. The first half is almost interesting as she "loses it"... but the second half she wanders around NY in a dazed fog, leaving the viewers in a dark cloud of disappointment. The ending was nothing at all... leaving us so empty. The rental box sounded very compelling, but the film is a waste of time. Hey, the lead actress did a really good job of playing the part of the overburdened, confused and dazed housewife, but the role was not enough to carry this film.Sorry, don't rent this one. All they had to do was give us a solid second half and a firm conclusion and I would have given it a 5.
morrison_hillingdon
why do people need to be spoonfed when it comes to cinema.... There is fastfood cinema.....pay your money, take your choice, laugh/cry whatever it says on the tin, and leave.... and there are films that heighten the senses you Don't use every day....Newsflash; leaving the story unresolved is neither lazy or a cop out....that's when you need to work, to evaluate and think of what it means...this is thinking person's cinema...a gourmet meal and really think ....I mean really, really think before you feel 'cheated' or 'conned' of the 'perfect resolution'...see such films as the heightened, responsible pieces they actually are to the art....
jrbdobbs69
If you like films with beginnings, middles, and ends, this is not for you. There is much to like about parts of this film. The acting is good, the cinematography is good, the music and sound design is excellent, and the editing is very good. Still, I would have preferred going to any trailer park in Texas and drinking beer with the residents. The film is so much like real life that it makes me long for real life instead of watching an imitation. I don't need to pay to see banality on screen when I can walk out the door and see it for free, and in a more interesting, interactive way. This would have made 2 excellent experimental films of about 8 minutes each. This is not a "message film," but rather a very long mood piece, and unfortunately, all of that was conveyed by the movie poster. "Room" reminds me of Richard Linklater's first feature film, "It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books." I disliked that film for many of the same reasons, and now Linklater is one of my favorite directors. I hope the same will happen with this filmmaker.
AD
