Brie Larson Plays A Damaged Mother In First Clip For TIFF Favorite Room

Few motion pictures will enter this year’s award circuit with as much good-will as Lenny Abrahamson’s family drama, Room. Based on Emma Donoghue’s novel of the same name, the poignant story features a young mother (Brie Larson) who looks after the son she birthed while housed in captivity in a dinky and drab shed.

As the footage released thus far has revealed, Larson’s character coaches Jack into believing that the titular, 10-by-10-foot adobe is the only object in existence, and anything beyond the windowless walls of their room is simply make belief. For all five years of Jack’s life, this is the only existence he has ever known, but the sense of comfort and control that Joy experiences – while bordering on agoraphobia – is enough to make her happy.

There comes a time when the pair are forced to leave the shed, however, and that’s where today’s clip via Entertainment Weekly comes in. Showcasing a tense interaction between Joy and her worried mother (Joan Allen), it’s but a small taste of Larson’s emotionally raw performance – one which has catapulted her to the front of the pack in the run for Best Actress.

Room will make its bow in select theaters this weekend, before opening up nationwide on November 6. To get a small gist of Brie Larson’s emotionally raw performance, be sure to check out the clip below. For more on Abrahamson’s starry drama, head on over to our glowing review from TIFF 2015.

Like any good mother, Joy dedicates herself to keeping Jack happy and safe, nurturing him with warmth and love and doing typical things like playing games and telling stories. Their life, however, is anything but typical—they are trapped—confined to a windowless, 10-by-10-foot space, which Joy has euphemistically named “Room.” Joy has created a whole universe for Jack within Room, and she will stop at nothing to ensure that, even in this treacherous environment, Jack is able to live a complete and fulfilling life. But as Jack’s curiosity about their situation grows, and Ma’s resilience reaches its breaking point, they enact a risky plan to escape, ultimately bringing them face-to-face with what may turn out to be the scariest thing yet: the real world.