Room 0

Just watched Richard Kodai's brilliant indie feature #Room 0 on Amazon prime. With his excellent storytelling techniques he made the audience engaged with one location and with just one lead on camera supported only by voices of other cast members. The setting and actress are a perfect fit for this psychological thriller with sci-fi elements. Almost felt like watching a Stanley Kubrick film in the scene where the lead actress is being assisted on phone by a professor - played by Victor Jones - to break the loop.

Must watch for any indie movie fan. The right to criticize the bad mainstream films as consumer comes with a responsibility to not ignore the efforts made by indie artists making films with such professional competence to the craft and passion to bring original- deep - ideas to the conversation. These brilliant local - #duval - indie film makers like Richard will eventually make big splashes soon. I am going to watch this a few more times for sure. Highly recommend watching this film now available on prime, Apple TV and many more ott platforms.

The 2024 mystery thriller from writer and director Richard Kodai was a movie that I hadn't heard about when I sat down to watch it. So all I knew about it was was the information I got from the synopsis. I will say, though, that the synopsis sounded interesting enough to make me have an interest.

But the end result of the movie was not all that interesting. I found the narrative to be rather bland and devoid of anything overly interesting or thrilling. And I have to admit that the movie got repetitive rather quickly. Sure, that was the point of the time loop narrative, but since it was devoid of overly interesting things happening and a rather slow pacing, then sitting through "Room 0" was somewhat of a struggle.

The movie has a very small cast list, with the majority being voice actors only. The acting performances in the movie were fair, but the actors and actresses didn't really have all that much to work with. I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress in the movie, and that is actually something that I do enjoy when I sit down to watch a movie.

I have to say that "Room 0" fell short of entertaining me, and this is definitely not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time. Nor is it a movie that I will recommend for fans of mystery thrillers to sit down and watch. This movie is no "Groundhog Day" movie, far from it actually.

My rating of writer and director Richard Kodai's 2024 movie lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

Disclaimer: I am family friends with the writer-director, but I saw this independently of him and my words below are my own.

As noted in the title, fans of Room 104 may appreciate the minimalist style of this indie movie: everything takes place in one room, with the main actor (Remy Chartier) being almost the only one seen onscreen and special effects limited to flashes and general graphics. This allows the viewer to focus on the slow-burning plot which expands into a complex situation where it is discovered that time is being held hostage by a mysterious force. Where the film succeeds best is showing the evolution of our heroine as she tries to battle the hopelessness and loneliness of her situation, during which she reevaluates her sense of self. In other words, the movie makes the most of itself by allowing the viewers to imagine what goes on outside the room while seeing the effects isolation can have on one person, a very relatable concept in a post-COVID world.

So if this is the type of movie you appreciate and are always trying to find more of, I recommend it.

Disclaimer: the director is an old friend and I received a screener, but I tried to write the most objective review possible.

Room 0 is the perfect example of how you do a microbudget indie science fiction movie. With its single lead character, one claustrophobic location, and a plot that takes advantage of the lack of resources and turns them into a framework for a twisting story, writer-director Richard Kodai managed not only to create a gripping story but even to increase momentum from scene to scene, so the movie never feels sluggish. Even though at its core Room 0 relies on a sci-fi trope that has been used in various movies and TV series, this take still feels fresh. Special mention to lead actress Remy Chartier who carries the entire movie on her own with a wide range of emotions. Even the voice actors have the necessary gravitas. I only have some minor gripes, like tiny sound issues or the lack of certain scenes that could have made some plot elements even more understandable, but these are all small issues, probably due to budget constraints. Much recommended!

As a lover of independent films I never know what I'm going to get. Will it be a campy film or one that makes you think. Luckily Room 0 was the latter. It starts out with the young woman and a mysterious box. The box is explained in act 2.

The film used its budget wisely as the young woman was "trapped" in the motel room. This used the limitations as an advantage rather than a disadvantage. The box was also used for transition between "days."

This film reminds me of Clerks in that they used what was available and wrote around it. When you don't have millions to work with, you have to be creative.

All in all this was a great movie and I'm looking forward to the director's future work.