DOCTOR SLEEP : Tuesday 12th November 2019.

'DOCTOR SLEEP' which I saw earlier this week at my local multiplex is an MA15+ Rated American horror film based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Stephen King, which is a sequel to King's 1977 novel 'The Shining'. The film, set several decades after the events of 'The Shining', combines elements of the 1977 novel and its 1980 film adaptation of the same name directed by Stanley Kubrick. 'Doctor Sleep' is Written, Directed, and Edited by Mike Flanagan whose previous credits take in such horror offerings as 2011's 'Absentia', 2013's 'Oculus', 2016's 'Hush', 'Before I Wake' and 'Ouija: Origin of Evil' and 2017's 'Gerald’s Game' again based on a Stephen King novel. Flanagan also created, Directed, Produced, Wrote, and Edited the Netflix supernatural horror series 'The Haunting of Hill House' in 2018, and he is currently developing a stand-alone second season, titled 'The Haunting of Bly Manor'. The film was released last week too in the US and Canada, cost about US$50M to make, has so far bought in US$37M and has garnered generally mixed or average Reviews with Critics praising the performances and the eerie atmospherics especially.

In 1980, a short time after the events unfolded horrifically at The Overlook Hotel in the remote Colorado Rockies young Danny Torrance (Roger Dale Floyd) and his mother Wendy (Alex Essoe) have relocated to sunny Florida, with the desire to never see snow again! Still reeling from those recent events, Danny continues to be haunted by the ghost of the rotting woman from Room 237 who now manifests herself in his new home bathroom. The ghost of Dick Hallorann (Carl Lumbly) who was the Head Chef at The Overlook Hotel and who also possessed the 'Shine' now mentors Danny and one day teaches the young lad to securely lock away such ghosts in imaginary boxes inside his mind. In the meantime, a small yet powerful group of un-dead semi-immortals known as 'The True Knot' led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) feed off the 'steam' expelled in the dying moments of those with the Shine, in order to prolong their lives by slowing down their ageing process.

We then fast forward to 2011, and Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) has climbed inside a bottle and become a down and out alcoholic in an attempt to subdue his memories from his traumatic childhood and his time at the Overlook Hotel. He moves to a small town and forms a strong bond with Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis), who gets him a job and becomes his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor. The AA group that Dan joins is headed up by Dr. John Dalton (Bruce Greenwood) who also gets Dan a job as an orderly working three nights a week at the local Hospice. Dan remains committed to his AA group and begins to rehabilitate. One night while on duty at the Hospice, Dan sees a white cat who goes to a patient who is near death - a sure sign that the end is nigh remarks the aged and frail patient. Dan uses his Shine abilities to comfort a number of dying patients over the years, who give him the nickname 'Doctor Sleep'.

At about the same time Dan begins receiving telepathic communications from a young girl named Abra Stone (Dakota Hickman), whose Shining capabilities are even more powerful than his own. Meanwhile, Rose recruits a fifteen year old teenager named 'Snakebite Andi' (Emily Alyn Lind) into her cult after observing her ability to telepathically control people, and on the pretext of immortal life.

We now fast forward to the present day and Dan has been 'dry' for eight years now. The True Knot clan are in starvation mode, and running short on the necessary steam to sustain themselves. Crow Daddy (Zahn McClarnon) who is Rose's lover, right hand man, and long term member of the group, is homing in on a young ten year old baseball protege who also possesses the Shine, Bradley Trevor (Jacob Tremblay). The group abduct Bradley and torture him so as to extract as much steam from him as they can, and then bury his corpse in a shallow grave in the grounds of a disused power plant. A now teenage Abra (Kyliegh Curran) senses Bradley's torture and death, and her distress alerts both Dan and Rose from afar.

Rose, having now sensed the extent of Abra's Shine, sets her sights on Abra, planning to extract her all powerful steam to sustain the cult. Realising that Rose is after her, Abra visits Dan, who insists that she stay away for her own safety sake, and avoid drawing attention to herself. Dan turns his back on Abra and feeling dejected she returns home after bunking off school for the day.

Later that night, Rose astral-projects into Abra's mind, but is out witted when the teenager manages to trap her and enter Rose's mind albeit briefly. With a severely wounded hand, badly shaken and emotionally stirred, Rose returns to her body and sends The True Knot to capture Abra, while Crow Daddy persuades Rose to hang back and recuperate, and gather back her strength. 

One night while on duty at the Hospice, the white cat leads Dan to an empty room where he has another visit from Hallorann, who instructs him to protect Abra. Abra tells Dan what happened with Rose and says she can track the cult if she can touch Bradley's baseball glove, knowing that one of The True Knot handled it. Dan confides to Billy about the Shining and asks him to suspend all disbelief and to have faith in what he is telling his friend as the truth. Billy agrees and they travel to the murder scene and exhume Bradley's body to retrieve his glove. They then go to Abra's house, where they recruit her initially disbelieving father Dave (Zackary Momoh) and devise a plan. Using an astral projection of Abra as bait, Dan and Billy lure the cult members out into a remote forest clearing and shoot most of them dead, although Snakebite Andi telepathically manipulates Billy into killing himself before she dies.

Rose has been able to sense the death of her fellow cult members and becomes increasingly distraught as one by one they are all popped off. In the meantime Crow Daddy who was not at the forest clearing shoot out, has abducted Abra, sedated her to render her Shine dormant, and killed her father Dave. Dan communicates with the drugged Abra, whose sedation is now wearing off, and allows him to possess her temporarily and force Crow Daddy to crash the van that they are travelling in into a tree at high speed. Not wearing a seat belt Crow Daddy is sent hurtling through the windscreen and lands in a heap in the headlights ten meters in front of the crash scene. He dies from his wounds, as Abra looks on, free once more. Dan and Abra reunite, while Rose consumes the cult's remaining stockpile of steam, so instantly giving her renewed strength, healing her wounds and vowing revenge for the deaths of her True Knot friends. 

Dan makes the decision to return to the abandoned Overlook Hotel, believing it will be as dangerous for Rose as it will be for him and Abra. Upon arrival late into the evening on the snow covered mountain, he breaks into the long time abandoned hotel and starts up the hotel's boiler and generators and promptly sets about exploring the building once again, 'awakening' it in the process.

Dan revisits the rooms where his father Jack, influenced by the ghostly and evil apparitions of the Overlook Hotel, attempted to murder him and Wendy all those years ago. At the bar in the hotels grand ballroom, Dan is offered a shot of Jack Daniels by 'Lloyd', a bartending ghost who looks a lot like his father. Dan refuses much to Lloyd's disgust. Just then Abra who has been sat in the car diligently waiting for signs of Rose's imminent arrival calls out to Dan that her cars headlights have been spotted on the approach to the hotel.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Dan and Abra confront Rose, by pulling her into an astral plane, in the shape of the Overlook's vast snow covered hedge maze. Dan attempts to trap her in one of the boxes inside his mind, but fails so releasing Rose from the astral plane. Dan instructs Abra to run before being overpowered by Rose, and incurring a severe axe wound to his femoral artery in his leg. As she drains his steam by applying pressure to his open wound, Dan releases the Overlook's ghosts from the boxes in his mind, who overcome and kill Rose.

However, when done, the ghosts turn on and possess Dan, who begins to hunt for Abra who seeks refuge in Room 237. Dan, wielding the fireman's axe, catches up with Abra who is able to momentarily free him. He tells her to flee the hotel. Struggling with possession, Dan returns to the boiler room which is now working to maximum capacity and becoming overloaded. It quickly becomes engulfed in flames as hot boiler oil spills all over the floor, and as Abra watches helplessly from outside as the hotel burns down, with Dan still inside. The blue and red lights of the fire trucks driving up the mountain side signify that help is at hand and that Abra will be rescued.

Allegedly Stephen King was none too impressed with Stanley Kubrick's 1980 big screen adaptation of 'The Shining' and by the changes he had made to the storyline. So much so that in 1997 Stephen King wrote a new Screenplay which was turned into a three part television mini-series which ended up picking up thirteen award wins and ten further nominations. Fast track to 2013 and King wrote the 'Doctor Sleep' novel and it was left to Writer and Director and long time horror film geek Mike Flanagan to combine the two novels and Kubrick's movie together in this 'Doctor Sleep' film. And I would have to say that I think that Mike Flanagan has by and large succeeded on that front by remaining faithful to that landmark 1977 novel and Kubrick's cult 1980 film. This films works as a stand alone movie where you can easily enough pick up the pieces from its predecessor while also serving as a strong companion piece that complements what went before, without seeming like a Hollywood cash grab for the sake of a late sequel. With strong performances from McGregor, Ferguson and Curran especially, an extended running time that does not linger, and enough emotion, suspense and scares to maintain the interest and please fans of Kubrick's 'The Shining' and King's source novels, this film is well worth the price of your cinema ticket. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

'Doctor Sleep' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE PREDATOR : Thursday 20th September 2018.

I finally caught 'THE PREDATOR' earlier this week, two weeks after its release in Australia. It has been 31 years since the cult classic alien man hunting character 'Predator' emerged onto our cinema screens with the titular action hero of that era Arnold Schwarzenegger going head to head and toe to toe with the said Predator in some undisclosed Central American jungle territory. With a crack team of hardened military rescue types who get picked off most gruesomely and violently one by one, it's Arnie who is the last man standing to face off against the menacing alien foe and save the day. That film was Directed by John McTiernan for US$18M and it took at the Box Office US$99M. On the strength of 'Predator' three sequels have so far materialised including this one. In between time there was 1990's 'Predator 2' Directed by Stephen Hopkins and then 2010's 'Predators' as Directed by Nimrod Antal and now 'The Predator' Directed by Shane Black. A crossover with the 'Alien' franchise produced the 'Alien vs. Predator' films, which to date have seen 'Alien vs. Predator' released in 2004 and 'Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem' released in 2007. This instalment was made for US$88M and has so far grossed US$68M and has garnered mixed Reviews generally.

Shane Black who Co-Starred in the original film back in 1987, and who Directs here and also Co-Wrote the Screenplay has stated that the film would be a sequel set in the present day, following on from the events of the first two films, but set before the events of the 'Predators'. He has also indicated that he looked for plot details from the previous Predator movies that he could retrospectively link back to the new film, and that if this instalment performs well, it could be the first in a planned trilogy.

The opening scene sees a spaceship hurtling through space and bursting through a wormhole emerging the other side with planet Earth in the distance. It crash lands somewhere on the outskirts of suburbia in a woodland area. Meanwhile Army sniper Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) has assumed the undercover sniper position with a hostage retrieval situation going on down below, with his aim squarely on one of the antagonists about to make an exchange. He is communicating with four of his other colleagues all in position somewhere in the dense undergrowth. Just then the spaceship comes into view flying low over head and coming to a crashing halt somewhere close by. McKenna is caught off guard, fires a shot killing one of the goons below and then falls down an embankment coming to rest eventually not far from the stricken ship. He ventures to explore further and finds various pieces of hardware and technology, when a colleague arrives who is quickly dispensed with by an alien creature who strings him up and then slices him in half at the waist. This gives McKenna a split second to incapacitate the alien creature and make his get away.

Will Traeger (Sterling K. Brown) is a Government Agent and Director of the 'Stargazer Project' which has been monitoring the aliens comings and goings since their arrival in 1987, then in 1997 and more frequently with each passing year. He captures McKenna and interrogates him, but not before McKenna has mailed off the retrieved items of alien hardware to somewhere safe. Traeger has also captured the alien which he has termed a 'Predator' because it seems to hunt its prey for sport, and has it heavily sedated and bound in a laboratory for observation, testing and doubtless experimentation. He recruits Dr. Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn) an evolutionary biologist to aid the research team with their studies of the alien being. But of course its not long before the captured Predator breaks free of its shackles like they are dental floss, and promptly and with bloody efficiency dispenses with everyone wearing a white lab coat, or in a security uniform brandishing a firearm.

McKenna meanwhile is escorted out of the same premises and onto a bus with a rag tag bunch of other ex-soldiers all suffering from PTSD. This bunch are made up now of McKenna, ex-Marine Gaylord 'Nebraska' Williams (Trevante Rhodes), military veterans and war buddies Coyle and Baxley (Keegan-Michael Key and Thomas Jane respectively), Blackhawk helicopter pilot Nettles (Augusto Aguilera) and former Marine Lynch (Alfie Allen). Witnessing the alien escape across the roof top of the facility they are now exiting from, the bunch now believe what McKenna was telling them about visitors from outer space and promptly take over the bus over powering the two escorting security guards and the driver.

They see that Bracket has given chase across the roof top in hot pursuit of the Predator wielding a tranquilliser gun like she's Lara Croft. Traeger's Security Guards give chase and are ordered to kill her, but she is rescued by McKenna and his team who ride off on stolen motorcycles headed for the home of his ex-wife Emily (Yvonne Strahovski) and autistic son Rory (Jacob Tremblay) whom he mailed his package to of retrieved alien tech.

Arriving there, McKenna searches Rory's room for the tech but only finds the empty box. Rory has however, as it's Halloween, gone trick or treating down to the local neighbourhood, wearing the alien helmet and gauntlet in an attempt to avoid detection form a couple of nasty school bullies who seem intent on making Rory's life a misery. McKenna and his team split up roaming the streets searching for Rory, when an explosion in the distance alerts them to there being something amiss in da hood. They arrive to find Rory in a deserted floodlit football field in a standoff with two huge Predator dogs approaching menacingly.

Thwarting the dogs and rescuing Rory, the team make off into the seemingly safe harbourage of a nearby school. The Predator chases them in and corners McKenna, Rory and Bracket. Just as McKenna is about to return the alien tech to the Predator in a seemingly vain attempt to save his life, another much larger Predator bursts through the wall and begins to fight with the first, eventually throwing it onto the roof of a car and ripping off its head and extracting its spinal column in the process. The team escape while the Predators do battle with themselves, leaving the second larger more dominant and seemingly more advanced Predator to now locate the lost technology.

Bracket somehow deduces that the Predators are attempting to rapidly evolve themselves with the superior DNA of humans and other inhabitants of planets across the galaxy. The team regroups at an old barn, but Traeger tracks them down, captures them, and shares his thoughts that the Predators foresee that climate change within the next two generations at most will end their ability to retrieve human DNA for their ongoing hybridisation, so they are scrambling to retrieve it now before time and mankind runs out. Rory sketches a map to the spaceship and so Traeger takes the boy away to that location to use his autistic skills to unlock access to the ship. The team escapes and goes after him with the help of a Predator dog suddenly turned tame and obedient, recognising that it is really mans best friend who holds the upper hand in the food chain.

And so now all the interested parties gather at the crashed Predator ship - McKenna and his team, Traeger and his crew, and the second Predator having killed Lynch who was lurking in ambush but was outsmarted by the Predator. Traeger has set up translation equipment to convert Predator speak into the Queen's English, and so the pesky Predator explains through the translation software that it intends to blow up the ship to keep it out of their hands and then give them all a head start of a full seven-and-a-half minutes before it hunts them down predator like and mercilessly dispenses with them all. Needless to say, the Predator quickly kills off most of the team with what's left of McKenna's team and what's remaining for Traeger's crew both heading off in opposite directions in a seemingly futile attempt to thwart the bloodthirsty intergalactic alien antagonist. Traeger tries to use a Predator weapon on the alien but stupidly kills himself in the process.

The Predator captures Rory, believing that his autism is an advancement in human evolution and is consequently worthy of further Predator hybridisation. The Predator takes off in his ship. As it does so McKenna, Nebraska, and Nettles jump onto the ship's exterior hoping to gain access some how, but the Predator activates a force field that slices through Nettles at the waist and his upper body tumbles off the ship. Nebraska is caught on the outside of the force field, while McKenna is underneath it. Nebraska already injured and sensing no further hope, sacrifices himself into one of the ship's turbine engines, causing it to loose power and crash land. McKenna sneaks into the ship and attacks the Predator but is overcome by the strength and power of the alien. Bracket arrives, and with Rory, the three manage to overpower and kill it.

So, there are a few nods back to the first two instalments in this franchise which for the purposes of continuity and consistency are no bad thing. The quips and deadpan humour are here too which adds a certain levity to the violence and gore, and the cast are strong enough and evenly matched, although for me the young Jacob Tremblay is the stand out here displaying all the ticks and idiosyncrasies of a brilliant yet challenged mind. As for the story - well that's pretty shallow, with the audience expected to take huge leaps of faith for example with the apparent overnight programming of alien language translation technology; the rapid deduction that the Predators are harvesting human and other superior alien DNA to enhance their own evolution; and the reason they have visited our humble little blue planet is because of climate change. And there are other plot holes and other storylines that defy explanation too, but suffice to say, Shane Black has crafted a film that is entertaining enough, there is ample blood letting and dismembered bodies, and The Predator as portrayed here by Brian A. Prince, is a convincing antagonist, but you can leave your brain at the door, sit back and enjoy the rapid fire quips & quirks, and violence aplenty, but that's all that this reboot has going for it . . . rather disappointingly.

'The Predator' merits two claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 28th January 2016.

Well G'Day and I'm very pleased to return to these humble pages following a family holiday to Vietnam. Much has happened during that time in the movie world  including the Golden Globe Awards winners & grinners were announced on January 10th with 'The Revenant' picking up Best Drama Film, Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Director for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu; 'The Martian' picked up Best Musical or Comedy Film and Best Actor for Matt Damon; Best Actress went to Brie Larson for 'Room' and Jennifer Lawrence for 'Joy' in each category; Best Supporting Actor went to Sylvester Stallone for 'Creed' and the Actress win to Kate Winslett for 'Steve Jobs'. We also mourned the very sad and premature passing of two film greats in David Bowie and Alan Rickman - the former on 10th January whose contribution as Singer/Songwriter first and foremost and then as an Actor is almost without equal; and Alan Rickman who passed on 14th January with 68 acting credits to his name and who can forget his Hans Gruber from 'Die Hard', Alexander Dane from 'Galaxy Quest' and Professor Severus Snape from the 'Harry Potter' series - both will be sorely missed, but their lasting legacy lives on. And of course the 'Star Wars' behemoth continues to roll on with global Box Office takings now nudging US$2B making it the third highest grossing film of all time. And finally, let's not forget that Odeon Online turned two years of age on 26th January - launched on Australia Day 2014, thanks to all for your well wishes, support and readership over that time.

There has also been a haul of new movie content released during that time, with a few others due out this week which include a long term abduction story of a mother and her son born into forced captivity whose only knowledge of the world is from within a 3x3 square shed, until they risk a bid for freedom, but at what cost to them both? Then we have a Catholic Church child sex abuse film uncovered by intrepid newspaper reporters determined to go to print with their findings whilst others in power will do what they can to prevent their cause; and finally an Australian family drama as a teenage girls goes missing.

When you have sat through your movie(s) of choice and wish to share your views and opinions with other like minded cinephiles, you can leave your own Review in the Comments section below this or any other Post, and let us know what you think. In the meantime, enjoy your film.

ROOM (Rated M) - I saw this film a few days before its Australian release, and have already Posted my Review earlier in the week, awarding this film Four Clapperboards. This is likely to be as much an emotional rollercoaster ride, a tear jerker and heart wrenching film as any you're likely to see this year that could easily be based on real life events, as have unfolded in the worlds media in very recent years. Already doing very well around the awards circuit with 54 wins and another 98 nominations including four Oscar nominations pending for Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress for Brie Larson who has already scooped the Golden Globe for her performance, this film is directed by Lenny Abrahamson and is based on the book of the same name by Emma Donoghue.

The story here centres around Joy Newsome (Brie Larson) known to her young five year old son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) as Ma. Joy would be in her mid-twenties and we quickly learn that for the last seven years she has been held captive in a room that measures no more than three metres square. It is a squalid room and this is the world for Ma and young Jack. There are four solid walls and the roof with only a skylight window which allows natural light in but cannot be opened, and the room is sound proofed and its only door is controlled by means of an electronic security keypad. For Jack, this is the world as he knows it, but turning five, his world is about to be turned upside down! 'Room' had its world wide premier at the Telluride Film Festival in early September last year and a limited US release in mid-October and reaches our shores this week. Made for just US$6M it has so far grossed US$9M and also stars Joan Allen, William H. Macy, and young Jacob Tremblay who is also receiving much awards attention as the young son to Brie Larson's mother character.

SPOTLIGHT (Rated M) - Directed by Tom McCarthy this film has an all star cast and tells the true story of the real 'Spotlight' Team who in 2001 working for The Boston Globe on a long term investigative journalism piece, uncover multiple child sex abuse allegations within the Catholic Church within the greater Boston area, and which has been going on for many many years. What they also uncover is that these activities have been going on under the full knowledge of the city's higher echelons of power, and that Catholic Priest offenders were allowed to re-offend. A slow burn investigative journalism offering that will piece together like a jigsaw puzzle in the end, but the fun is getting there in the first place! Starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup and Rachel McAdams this film is in the running for six Oscars and has already picked up 79 award wins and another 105 nominations. Made for US$20M it has so far taken US$34M, and judging by the accolades bestowed up it, this is another to add to your must-see list!

LOOKING FOR GRACE (Rated M) - this little Australian family drama is Directed and Written by Sue Brooks and released on Australian Day (26th January) it clearly has the intention of attracting some home spun family drama from beneath the family barbecue. When teenage daughter Grace (Odessa Young) goes missing with Dad's cash savings so Mum Denise (Radha Mitchell) and Dad Dan (Richard Roxburgh) go in search of her but along lifes winding roads the journey reveals more about inner secrets than perhaps should be brought to the fore, given the circumstances!

That's it for this week, but of course there is also a whole heap of other great film content still out on general release and as either Reviewed or Previewed between these pages.  Do your bit and get out there to see a movie this week, and support the film industry in the process.

See you at the movies.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

ROOM : Monday 25th January 2016.

'ROOM' which I saw this week, is likely to be as much an emotional rollercoaster ride, a tear jerker and heart wrenching film as any you're likely to see this year that could easily be based on real life events,and is sure to leave its mark on your movie going memory long after the credits have rolled. Already doing very well around the awards circuit with 54 wins and another 98 nominations including four Oscar nominations pending for Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress for Brie Larson who has already scooped the Golden Globe for her performance, this film is directed by Lenny Abrahamson and is based on the book of the same name by Emma Donoghue. 'Room' had its world wide premier at the Telluride Film Festival in early September last year and a limited US release in mid-October and reaches our shores this week. Made for just US$6M it has so far grossed US$9M and also stars Joan Allen, William H. Macy, and young Jacob Tremblay who is also receiving much awards attention as the young son to Brie Larson's mother character.

The story here centres around Joy Newsome (Brie Larson) known to her young five year old son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) as Ma. Joy would be in her mid-twenties and we quickly learn that for the last seven years she has been held captive in a room that measures no more than three metres square. It is a squalid room and this is the world for Ma and young Jack who was fathered by Joy's captor known only as Old Nick (Sean Bridgers) who repeatedly visits her for sex whilst Jack sleeps in the wardrobe. The room has very basic fittings which the two must share - a bath, a sink, a table and two chairs, a bed, a television, and a rudimentary kitchenette. There are four solid walls and the roof with a skylight window which allows the only natural light in, but cannot be opened, and the room is sound proofed and it's only door is controlled by means of an electronic security keypad.

For the first five years of his life Jack has been led to believe by his mother that the room is their world and nothing exists outside of it, and what they see on the television only exists in the television - it is not real. Joy, despite her surroundings, has tried to create an environment for Jack where he can still learn & grow, be stimulated and kept active, and lead a fulfilled life in his own beliefs which his Ma has instilled in him. All the while Joy suffers from her own depressions and malnutrition but remains eternally optimistic and upbeat for Jack's sake in the hope that one day they may be freed.

With this in mind and with the advent of Jacks fifth birthday Joy begins to sew the seeds in Jack that as he is growing up and becoming smarter so he needs to learn that in fact the world outside is real, and whilst they are 'inside' there is an 'outside' where there are trees, and animals, and other people. At first Jack dismisses this and rebels against his Ma in anger. In time he begins to ask questions about what he sees on television, which in turn opens up the dialogue to a possible escape plan but for which she needs Jacks support, understanding and cooperation, which for a five year old, who knows absolutely nothing of the real world other than a three by three meter shed, is a tall ask.

The plan involves Jack playing dead, having perished from the cold when Old Nick turns off the electricity supply during Winter. Ripped with 'grief' Joy rolls Jacks 'corpse' up in a carpet and explains to Old Nick that he was too late with the medication he was going to secure for Jack, and now he must dispose of the body. He agrees and hauls the rolled up carpet into the back of his pick-up truck at dusk. Inside Jack awaits until the third set of traffic lights and the car comes to a stop as instructed by his Ma, and then unrolls himself and jumps out of the truck and runs for the nearest passer by proclaiming that he is the son of Joy Newsome.

Mission accomplished, Jack is picked up confused, frightened and alone. The police are alerted who ask all the basic questions for which Jack has no answers, however, is taken in by the kind hearted and caring female police officer and through simple deduction descend on Old Nick's property where he is promptly arrested and never to be seen again, and Joy is freed and reunited with Jack.

What follows is Joy and Jacks integration back into society with the media frenzy that goes with such a case. After tests are run on both and a brief period of hospitalisation Joy is reunited with her parents Nancy (Joan Allen) and Robert (William H. Macy) who are now divorced. Nancy is remarried to Leo (Tom McCamus) who welcome them back to the family home for a period of readjustment, although Robert who now lives elsewhere cannot deal with Jack and is in denial that he is the product of his daughters captor and won't even look Jack in the eye because of it, much to the disgust of Joy.

Jack steadily learns to adjust to his new world, but Joy falls deeper into depression as the media frenzy continues and probing questions are asked about Jacks upbringing for the first five years of his life, his biological father and why she made the decisions she did despite her circumstances. As a result she overdoses, but is discovered in time by Jack who raises the alarm. He asks his grandmother to cut his hair for the first time in over five years in order that the off cut can be sent to his Ma in hospital to make her strong from his strong, having been told the story of Samson and the Lion and believing that strength comes from his long hair. Nancy agrees, in what is a truly touching scene.

With his Ma back home, and Jack finding a neighbourhood friend of his own, some sense of normality is starting to set in. Jacks says that sometimes he misses Room and would like to go back and so under police escort they visit the nearby house of Old Nick and the shed that was their world for seven years. Jack says of the now almost empty room that it is not the same with the door open, and so he says good bye to the individual fitments that remain and were not carted off as evidence, giving them both closure.

This is a story of survival, fortitude and optimism amongst the most isolated and hopeless circumstances. It is a harrowing tale of fear and redemption that is uplifting and rewarding in the final analysis and will warm the heart, but it will not be for everyone. A compelling story, well told and kudos to Director Abrahamson who eeks out two fine performances but perhaps most notably that of young Jacob Tremblay who puts in a turn that is nuanced, believable and worthy of the recognition he is getting for someone so young.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-