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Brie Larson, right, as Ma and Jacob Tremblay as Jack...

Brie Larson, right, as Ma and Jacob Tremblay as Jack in a scene from "Room." Credit: AP / George Kraychyk

PLOT A woman and her young son are imprisoned in a single room.

CAST Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, William H. Macy

RATED R

LENGTH 1:53

BOTTOM LINE This dramatic thriller is small-scale but profound, with great performances from Larson and a young Tremblay.

The boy is Jack and the woman is called Ma in “Room,” Lenny Abrahamson’s gripping film version of Emma Donoghue’s best-selling novel. Their days begin with Jack bidding a cheerful good-morning to the world, a 10-foot-square space known only as Room, and all its friendly objects: bed, bathtub, chair, sink, other chair.

It isn’t poverty that has trapped Jack and Ma (Brie Larson) in this place, but a man known as Old Nick (Sean Bridgers). We know little about him but we know his type: Nick has built a soundproof cell as a prison for the teenage girl he abducted nearly a decade ago. His nightly rapes have resulted in an unforeseen consequence: Jack, now 5 years old and played by a heartbreaking Jacob Tremblay.

That’s only half the story of “Room,” which unfolds like a slow-burning thriller as Ma, whose real name is Joy Newsome, decides that Jack is old enough to know the truth and even help plan a daring escape. “Room” would be compelling enough if this portion were stretched to feature length: It’s filled with white-knuckle tension and palpable desperation, thanks mostly to Larson’s raw performance. Larson, seen mostly in indie fare (“Short Term 12”) and supporting roles (“Trainwreck”), is now a possible Oscar contender thanks to “Room,” which was released to rave reviews last month.

Skillfully written by Donoghue, “Room” becomes a different movie when Jack and Joy enter the “real” world, where freedom comes with a price. Joy’s fraught relationship with her parents (Joan Allen and William H. Macy, both terrific), picks up right where it left off. A media frenzy traps the whole family in their home — another Room. And Jack seems unconvinced that his uncertain new life is any improvement.

“Room” shares much in common with Robert Zemeckis’ “Cast Away” (2000), which starred Tom Hanks as a plane-crash survivor who returns to civilization after four years alone on an island. The newer film feels small-scale and intense compared with the older film’s panoramic vistas and slick presentation. But both are profound in the same way, asking what life means without a larger world in which to live it. In each case, rescue is only the beginning of another story.

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