echo By: Nicole Kit Yin
With Mother’s Day around the corner, it seems fit to be reviewing this touching yet astonishing Canadian-Irish independent drama film adaptation—“Room”.
This Academy Award-nominated film was based on a novel written by Emma Donoghue, who so happened to be this film adaptation’s very own screenwriter. This film is about a young woman, known as “Ma” or Joy Newsome, and her 5-year-old son, Jack, finally gaining their freedom after being held captive in an enclosed space, known as “Room” for seven years. This film was also about allowing her son to experience the outside world for the very first time.
The reason why I decided to review this film was because it reminded me a lot about a mother’s strength and love for her children. In another way to put it, there were many parts of it that made me realise: this is what my mother has been doing for the past eighteen years of my life or what every mother has been doing for their children’s lives. Not that I was forcefully-enclosed in a small space when I was a child, but the realisation that my very own mother didn’t just clothe me, fed me or sheltered me, she also protected me from all the fears and dangers this world could possibly have; she was my watchful guardian. She was also my guidance out from the dark and into the light. Whenever I felt the world has shunned me or given up on me, she would always be the first to embrace me and welcome me back to the world, telling me that there will always be a mountain behind my back where I could depend on.
I have never felt so connected to a film before. In fact, I have never felt so emotionally attached to a film until I watched “Room”. I remembered there was a part in the film where Ma tells Jack that if his escape attempt succeeds and he were to be rescued, he gets to sleep on the hammock with his grandma and grandpa. And when Jack asked his mother, “And you?” Knowing that she might be killed once he succeeds, but also knowing that this escape could help his son to be set free into this big world, I have to admit: this part tore my heart into pieces. At that moment, without a doubt, if it were to be my situation, my mother would have done the exact same thing because that is what a mother does best. They endure all the pain, hide all their fears and doubts behind a smile, and cry into a pillow only after making sure that we were soundly asleep.
Besides that, throughout the film, I have learned that mothers only want what is best for their children. They will do anything to give us only the best they could offer. I also learned that they will do anything to protect their children, almost similar to a lioness or a tigress protecting its cub. They will give it their all to teach us and to nurture our lives with only love and care no matter how bad the situations we are in.
Mothers are tough and most people don’t realise this. They are the very reason as of who we are and who we have become today. They give us strength when we think we can no longer move on. In fact, they are our strength. We all have to admit that sometimes we hate the things they do, but between the lines, a sacrifice was made; a mother’s sacrifice. Sometimes we don’t realise it until it’s too late.
As time ticks away, so does the moments we share with our mothers lessen. Don’t wait till the day when you can no longer hear their voices, receive their phone calls and texts, or even see their faces. Cherish every moment with them, even the tiniest moment could be the happiest in both of your lives. Mothers don’t ask much, but only to be by their children’s side.
Before wrapping up this article, I would like to take this opportunity to say to all the mothers out there: Happy Mother’s Day. Thank you for all the sacrifices you have made to get us where we are today. We love you all.
