"SC-S33/W6-Movies that changed my perspective :Room"

That structure alone makes me curious, and how my feelings changed when the camera stops seeing the world as Jack does and starts showing what his mother has been carrying all along.

Now I notice how this film changed the way I view relationships, people, and success. Relationships, the synopsis keeps emphasizing the impenetrable bond between mother and child under unbearable circumstances. But I also felt that Room quietly argues that real relationships are built on love and care, not biology. Old Nick is Jack’s biological father yet the only true parent is Ma. I wonder if this will make me rethink what family means in my own life or the people who come and go in life just nominally related to me.

At this point, I remembered my daughter who had called me from Dublin a couple of hours earlier as she had been promoted to country head, Google Ireland. I smiled because she was also living alone in one room flat. I wanted to take the first flight to Dublin but I was booked for Canberra in a week's time.

I felt pain watching Jack had never met anyone beyond Old Nick and his mother. The outside world was TV fragments and Ma’s stories. For me, the problem is how I label people based on headlines or social media but we all do that, don't we?

I don't know why but I was again thinking of my daughter at this point. You know, irrespective of her age and status she still feels 4 yo to me, always.

I was glad, after years of captivity, even simple interactions become overwhelming for Joy and Jack. I suspect this film made me slower to judge others’ reactions, especially survivors of any kind of trauma reminding me that what looks like overreacting might be someone navigating a world that suddenly became too big, too loud, too much.

At 11.45 pm the movie over, Raju dropped me at my hotel but to be honest the movie touched me hard. I watched the movie I felt success for Joy and Jack would be escape and reunion with family. But the film insists that the safe return home can be as harrowing as captivity. At this point I'm sorry to say, Joy faces depression, guilt, and the weight of other people’s expectations and Jack was bombarded by stimuli he was never prepared for.

That challenges my own definition of success. Is it just achieving the goal, or is it how you live after the goal? I’ve often measured success by milestones, promotion, income, recognition. Room pushed me to measure it by resilience, by the quality of daily life after the big win.

Till date, I’m curious about how empathy is built because the story doesn’t sensationalize the abuse but it stays close to the characters’ inner worlds. By living inside Jack’s limited but loving universe and then feeling Joy’s fractured reintegration, I expect to walk away with a deeper, more uncomfortable understanding of trauma and survival. If it does that, it could change how I respond to news stories about kidnapping, abuse, or mental health, and maybe even influence what causes I choose to support or how I talk about moving on.

Your diary should include name of movie, when you watched it, how your thinking changed after watching and if you will recommend it to anyone?

Room (2015) released in India on 29 January 2016 was a limited, English‑language only in major cities, timed around its Oscar nominations, rather than a wide pan‑India launch.

Will I recommend it? Almost certainly, but with a warning telling them this isn’t a casual movie that we watch and forget. It’s a film that asks you to sit with pain, sympathy and for sure a messy aftermath feeling of “freedom.” For anyone willing to do that, I think this movie can be one that lingers quietly rearranging how you see love, responsibility, and what a good life actually requires.

You're right, there are several movies which I feel were not just for fun or relaxation only. At times I thought Room (2015) was the movie which forces us to take a step or to take a stand and show your concern that leaves a quiet, heavy hope. You feel awe at the mother and child bond, sorrow for their trauma, and a tender respect for ordinary life.

The film left me grateful yet unsettled, seeing daily freedom and connection as fragile gifts that demand care, patience, and deep empathy. It constantly reminded me of my daughter, my only child and how I wanted to be with her who was more than 5000 km away, alone.

That night I could not sleep properly but woke up every half an hour. I woke up early and took a cab to airport to catch my flight back to Delhi.

Basic Info

Title	Room
Release year	2015 (world premiere Sept 2015, India release early 2016 in Metros only
Runtime	118 minutes
Language	English
Genres	Drama/ Psychological drama with thriller elements
Director	Lenny Abrahamson
Producers	Ed Guiney and David Gross
The film was produced by	Element Pictures (Ed Guiney’s company) along with David Gross and other co‑producers, as a Canada–Ireland–UK–US co‑production.

Main Cast	Role
Brie Larson	As Joy “Ma” Newsome – a young woman kidnapped as a teenager and held captive for seven years
Jacob Tremblay	As Jack – her 5‑year‑old son, who has lived his entire life in “Room”
Sean Bridgers	As Old Nick – the captor and Jack’s biological father
Joan Allen	As Nancy – Joy’s mother
William H. Macy as Robert	Joy’s father
Tom McCamus	As Leo – Joy’s mother’s partner

Now I would love to invite @ripon0630 @muzack1 and @paholags to take part in this contest by @ruthjoe

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