The Immaculate Room is starred by Emile Hirsch and Kate Bosworth.
This is a movie that, in line with what happens to its characters, immerses the viewers into the chaos of not knowing where they are headed, and it does so intentionally.
Plot
A seemingly functional couple is selected to take part in a reality show challenge. They must spend 50 days in a room in exchange for 5 million dollars.
Review
The Immaculate Room is a cinematographic experiment, although not an exceedingly outrageous one, that is based on a premise, which actually revolves around an experiment, a psychological one. It differs from the norm, and it does intrigue us to a certain extent, as it tries to provide us with thought provoking insights into the banality of existence and the experience of existing, by applying its extreme minimalist setting. Provocation and experimentation have always gone hand in hand, however do not always count on the acquiescence of the audience, which will probably be the case with this movie.
It qualifies as a chamber drama (Kammerspiel) that tests not only its characters, but also its audience in their resilience not to drift off into their own madness. While it tries to push those limits, it does not manage to provoke nor incite the desperation in the viewer it seems to aim to do.
It takes too long before the intrigue in the plot kicks in, purposefully, and it reaches its resolution in an awkward and almost clumsy way.
To be noted, though, the actors are fantastic, and within their roles they truly pull off keeping the psychological tension and successfully carry the premise in their performances. They transmit what is intended of their characters, proving their thespian savvy, and managing to convince the viewers.
The movie as a whole does not quite manage to imprint that mental fracture, which it intends to portray and convey, giving us an impression that the prevailing minimalism has dried up any of the premise’s original ideas.
Our Opinion
It is not a bad movie, but it is not awe inducing either. Do not expect Cube nor Bergman (another minimalist, by the way). It is a strange innocuous mix of both that in an odd way manages to attain what it wanted: lose itself in itself. An entirely different question is if the audience feels like participating in this experiment, which we doubt they will, and the movie will come across to most as somewhat tedious.
Other Reviews
“It feels like an empty provocation, one that never quite manages to deliver on the nihilistic premise it wants to capture within its lily white walls”
Manuel Betancourt: AV Club
“[It] isn’t breaking the mold on this type of conceit; if anything it’s purposely embracing a narrow scope of mental fracturing the scenario can ignite and counting on the actors to make it compelling”
Jared Mobarak: The Film Stage
Trailer of The Immaculate Room
Cast
Kate Bosworth / Kate
Emile Hirsch / Michael
Ashley Greene / Simone
M. Emmet Walsh / Kate’s Father
Alex Sgambati / Michael’s Sister
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