Sunday Matinee #169 Room
When tombs cannot contain love.
I love a good resurrection story.
Room | 2015
IMDb | Letterboxd | RRMC
Context: Joy (Brie Larson, in an Oscar-winning performance) and her son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) have just escaped the basement lair of Joy’s kidnapper and abuser. Now free after years of horrific captivity, the mother and son have a brief moment of private connection, enjoying an unknown peace.
Joy: Jack, come here.
Joy takes Jack by the hand and sets him on her knee. They look into the mirror, the first mirror Jack has ever seen as he takes in his physical appearance.
Joy: That’s us.
Jack: Mom, will he find us?
Joy: No. He will never find us.
Matthew 28:1-10 | EnterTheBible.org
Easter Sunday | 04.05.2026
Context: Jesus died. Hung on the cross, buried in a tomb. Three days later, two of his disciples go to the tomb and find it suddenly empty.
8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
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Commentary:
I love a good resurrection story.
I think that’s what made my wife and I so keen on seeing Room in the movie theater. Our children were very young, one barely a toddler, when we got a sitter and set out to the Uptown back in its final few years of being a movie theater. We were not disappointed. This harrowing tale of survival of the body and mind and soul was captivating. Not every character did what we wished they’d do, but that’s true to life, and we agreed Larson deserved her Oscar win.
Joy is buried. Dead, for all intents and purposes. Her attacker has stolen her away to the basement, to a literal underground Tomb. She is dead to the world, tormented in a daily hell on earth. Her one hope is her son. She raises him as best she can in Room, the name for the one space Jack has ever known. It should hopefully not be a surprise to you by now, Dear Reader, that Room is less about escaping the literal Room and more about the aftermath. What happens when you have Room for freedom? For calm? For leisure? For letting your guard down? For having hope again?
It’s not so easy, in the long run. Joy’s emotions run all over the place, including to some shadowy depths. Jack has his hardships, too. They have been resurrected, though little in their journey from resurrection is easy.
In this brief scene from the film, mother and son have a quiet, private moment together. Jill shows Jack what he looks like for the first time, excited to show him how handsome he is. Instead, Jack is less interested in what his face looks like than what’s on his mind behind the eyes: Will he find us? Am I safe? Are you safe, Mom? Is this peace going to last? Will resurrection last?
The disciples Mary and Mary Magdalene went to Tomb where Jesus’s remains were laid. Dead to the world, they are amazed by what they see and feel. Resurrection abounds in astonishing ways. They receive a message to tell the world that no Tomb can hold God, no death can swallow eternal life. These women hear from Jesus himself and proudly set out as the first evangelists, saying this little Room of Tomb is broken. Resurrection is real.
Whether Jesus escaped a literal Tomb or a metaphorical Tomb or both is one piece of the story that people will mull over for years to come. What I think about quite often is the aftermath. These two women who spread a good word of hope. The other disciples who listen and go to the mountain to experience their teacher in a new way, even if they doubt, and in Acts of the Apostles when they partner with the Holy Spirit to start the Church. But that’s not all.
Because right here and right now, this is also the aftermath.
We’re living it! Like Joy and Jack live in the aftermath of Room, we live in the aftermath of Tomb. Mother and son don’t find every moment of their resurrection life to be easy or simple or even healthy. It is the same for us, sadly, because we all have our days. Resurrection doesn’t promise perfection. It promises new life from the promised one. That will continue to reveal itself as life unfolds. Joy didn’t know everything that would happen as she folded Jack into that carpet for his grand escape. We don’t know everything that will unfold as we step out into the world today. But we can feel great comfort in the promise of resurrection. That new life is here.
For you. For me.
No Room can hold us. No Tomb is forever.
Happy Easter, Dear Reader!
I love a good resurrection story!
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Glad you’re here today, Dear Reader. God’s peace and good movies to you!