Books
The Trailer For 'Room' Will Give You Chills
Whatever you do, do not watch this video alone: the Room trailer is here, and it’s absolutely terrifying. From the moment it starts with a creepy lullaby, you’ll have goose bumps all the way up your arms. Then a hand bursts into the frame. So far, so frightening. Even smiling faces and shots of a mother and son dancing together are shown in dark, dingy lighting, and that sinister singing just will not stop the whole way through. At least I know the soundtrack to my nightmares tonight.
Fans of Emma Donoghue’s bestselling novel Room have been waiting five long years to see it brought to life, and this trailer looks like it’s hit the nail on the head. Brie Larson plays Ma, a young woman who has been imprisoned in a room for seven years, along with her son Jack, who is also the son of her kidnapper and rapist, Old Nick. So not exactly a happy story then. In this trailer alone, you can watch Larson scheming until your head hurts, crying until you weep, and screaming until your blood runs cold. Seriously, the woman can act. If you’ve seen her inspiring troubled teenagers in Short Term 12, or enchanting Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street, this won’t come as a surprise — but I think this may be her best role so far.
Room comes out this fall, and while the trailer might be terrifying, only those who’ve read the book will know just how creepy this story is going to get. Here are five seriously chilling moments from the book that will scare you silly in the film.
Jack Listens To His Mother’s Rape... Every Night
The trailer shows Jack peeking through the wooden slats of a door, so you know something nasty is going to be happening on the other side, but the actual scene is even more horrific than the trailer lets on. Every night, Jack sleeps in the wardrobe, and has to listen to the bed creak as his mother is raped by her kidnapper.
Ma Tells The Scariest Bedtime Story of All Time
OK, so the trailer already pretty much gives it away that Ma has been imprisoned, but the moment in the novel where she admits to Jack that she is being held against her will in an 11-foot by 11-foot room is still the stuff of nightmares, especially when she goes on to tell him about being kidnapped from her college campus when she was 19. I read this book at the age of 19, in my 11-foot by 11-foot college dorm, and I still remember the walls starting to creep in on me as I full-on freaked out.
Ma Has Hand-Shaped Bruises On Her Neck
One night, Jack accidentally crashes his remote control car while Old Nick is in the room, and Old Nick is not happy about it. The next morning, Ma is finding it hard to speak, and Jack notices she has hand-shaped bruises on her throat...
Ma Finds Chain Mail Under The Floor
Having watched The Shawshank Redemption a million times, I’d reassured myself that if I were ever imprisoned, I’d be able to dig myself out somehow. Think again. Ma tries to tunnel her way out through the ground, and finds a layer of chain mail under the floor. There is literally no way she’s getting out of that one.
Old Nick Almost Captures Jack (and Is Probably Going To Kill Him)
The whole plan to escape revolves around Jack sneaking out of Old Nick’s van and getting help, but when he’s bitten by a dog and becomes too overwhelmed to speak, Old Nick manages to grab him and start driving him right back to the Room. He’s a kidnapper with a serious temper, so things aren’t looking too good for Jack at that point.
By the time all of this terrifying stuff has happened, it’s still only half way through the novel. Don’t relax though, because spoiler alert: the chills aren’t over yet...
Images: A24/Youtube
