I'm back from my own holidays, well rested, fed and cleaner. And I have finally found time to sit down and watch Giles Daoust's thriller/social drama 'The Room' after being delayed with holiday preparation and travel. It is too bad my flight out to Vancouver this year wasn't nearly as bad as this. And it was a pretty bad flight I tell you.
Alex (Pascal Duquenne) is a trisomic man, stuck in a wheelchair since a mysterious fall in the stairs. Alex is traumatized by his parents: Max (Philippe Résimont), a frustrated composer turned completely mad and violent; and Marie (Françoise Mignon), a cold and hysteric woman. Alex's only friend is his sister Melinda, who's been taking care of him for years. But Melinda, 9-month pregnant of an unknown man, also maltreated by her parents, is about to leave the family home to start a new life, leaving Alex behind. And just then, at the peak of the family crisis, a mysterious door appears in the house, at a place where there was nothing before. And everyone who enters it disappears in a terrifying scream. The members of the family discover they're trapped in the house - every exit seems unnaturally locked - and they start disappearing in The Room one after the other. Due to these terrifying events, the family will have to face their most terrible secrets, which will almost make them kill each other. But what mystery is hiding inside The Room?
The Room feels thrown together and not thoroughly thought out. It is not terribly terrifying and the plot is simply too obvious from start to finish. I would expect this type of film from a young director straight out of film school who was looking to cram as many good ideas as possible into their film lest they not be allowed to shoot another. It felt as if this was their one and only chance to impress and it goes overboard in the process. Every step in the film is one step too far. Instead of being delicious and delirious it feels stale and strained. Referencing classic thriller films to further the director’s premise of fiction invading reality only leaves the viewer feeling that The Room is a cheap knock-off rather than a suitable homage. Is it any wonder that an actress originally hired to play the lead role quit after the first day of filming?
This is a case of a director’s single vision not being monitored nor mentored before being applied to celluloid. Daoust wrote, produced and directed his own film. Someone please step beside Mr. Daoust and gently restrain him. There may be hope for him yet.
Audio is available in original French and English dubbed. English dubbing is the spawn of satan and only further infuriated this viewer.
Buyer beware.
Studios: Seville Pictures and Warner Bros.
Aspect Ratio: 16/9 2:35
darn, that premise sounded promising.
sucks to hear it's a let down.
Premise sounds link a attempt at making Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves on a budget.
A wiff of Silent Hill 4 in there as well. Damn there are so many movies called 'The Room' these days.
That poster looks way too much like THE LOFT!
All I can think of is the twin towers when I see that poster. Strange.
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