Room

I actually liked this film. No it isn't perfect-but it gave me a feeling that not many others have. I'd compare the feeling to the one I got from Clean, Shaven and Inland Empire. Sort of a nightmarish claustrophobia, but the sort you get from being stuck inside your own body. I think the director deserves credit for a haunting, unique film. I really related to the main character in her 'lostness'...this movie really gets that the most disturbing things are not subversive or alien to us- they are real situations, every day things. No, there's not a real plot or a satisfying-loose ends-tying finale, but if there were I'd feel cheated because life isn't like that. I think this film has been reviewed by too many people who have never experienced real fear.

I have included unwanted information about the ending, it's not direct, therefore I don't really know if it is a spoiler or no OK, first of all, I can understand that this movie has such a low rating. But I'm afraid I can't agree with it. The movie is somewhat very different from what people are used to see. I saw this movie at LIFFe which is a film festival held at the city where I live. I wanted to see this movie because it is supposed to be experimental.

The film itself has a very minimal approach, which I would blame on the budget. But it's not my job to go into technical specs. The movie takes on a completely different approach, the movie does not answer questions that are raised, this is why it is unique. Some people find it horrible to watch because the movie is somewhat more visual and there is very little dialog. The movie leaves everything to your imagination and along the way it gives some small hints which may steer you. I really loved the ambient that the movie creates, the sound scape was great. If you wish to see a movie that obeys no logic and obeys no formula for making a movie, I think this is what you should go and see. It is an experiment more than is a film.

Rating 7/10

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.

"Room" is one of my favorite films. I really love the the sounds and the imagery, as well as he story itself. It's very real to me, and stimulates great emotion. I have recommended it several times to people. I can only explain my love for this piece in this way: I feel that it is both a literal and abstract expression of a very real depth that many of us fail to come to terms with- something that remains unsupportable in our psyches. This film goes even further beyond touching down on that sadness and emptiness, as well as the desperation of finding some relief in the great pursuit of those answers that are nearly impossible to find. Although the concept may not be easy to explain, or for some to open themselves to comprehend, it is deeply felt and shoots right through the soul. Amazing experience that gets better each time I watch it. You're real artists. I appreciate what you do. I will look forward to making it a point to check out future projects submitted.

I was very disappointed by this movie and all I could think of was that I wanted the time and money back that I wasted. I can't believe that the Austin Film Society granted Kyle Henry the money to make this "film" that never seemed to go anywhere. Kyle Henry and Cyndi Williams were in attendance and they didn't even seem to know what the movie was about during the q & a session. Kyle stated that Americans are often spoon fed the answers in a film that are merely crap. Well I would have like to have been spoon fed some of that crap because at least those movies have a direction, a definitive ending, and leave the audience with something to think about other than that's an hour of my life I'll never get back.