Review: ‘The Room’ squeezes desperation dry

In our most desperate moments, perhaps trauma-addled and lifeless, we will do anything to feel alive again. We might seek out any manner of numbing agents, merely distractions to deep-seated pain, or wish for and get lost in the existence that hangs precariously in the balance. But it all inevitably crumbles into dust. The Room, now streaming on Shudder, is a splendid slice of escapism, whisking us away from the real world and tumbling down, down, down into a rabbit hole of what ifs. A 30-something couple’s inability to have children becomes the crux of their fantasies, and director Christian Volckman works a number of emotional charms on the viewer. Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) and Kevin Janssens (Revenge) star as the love-struck, misery-sick lovers who must confront and conquer their darkest desires if they have any hope of surviving.

Kate, a lawyer in New York City, and Matt, a failing comic book artist, are bored of their lives. So, they do what most people do in movies: they steal away from their lives for something new, invigorating, and adventurous. Of course, that involves cashing in their luck (and their assets) to buy a dilapidated estate in upstate New Hampshire; they begin pouring their hearts into creating something special, a haven, you could say. Soon, they uncover a secret room that possesses powers far beyond the physical world ⏤ the ability to materialize anything they crave, from the finest diamonds in the world to the bubbliest of champagne. Each excessive whim leads them further and further into capitalist greed until nothing can satiate their thirst… except one thing.

The Room itself is a blood-sucker, leeching off desperation and pain until bodies are drained dry and bones are sucked clean. Once their physical wants are quenched, it is revealed Kate and Matt tried to have a baby twice… and lost the baby twice. When Kate takes matters into her own hands, casting a wish to have a baby boy of her own, the price they must pay is more than they bargained for. Volckman’s stylized narrative twists firmly around the psychological ⏤ distorting reality, and in a surprising turn, the aging process ⏤ yet the supernatural underpinning pulsates throughout the entire melodrama. Together, Matt and Kate learn that what they wish for is not actually what they need.

The Room mostly works as an elaborate manifestation of “be careful what you wish for,” and even in the most overwrought acting moments, there is soulful truth keeping it afloat. As Kate and Matt’s infant son grows, and the stakes reach a fever pitch, the film questions basic human destiny and if we can accept things as they are. Do we have a right to everything the world has to offer? Or must we resign to the hand we’ve been dealt?

We, as the viewer, know that things are never as they seem, and the best of intentions is never enough. But in the heat of desperation, we too might just do anything to claim the life we think we deserve.

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