Oscars 2016: Ranking Every Best Film Nominee From Worst To Best

2. Room

Room is no doubt a gruelling watch, as we are witness to the ongoing captivity of a woman who is raped daily and the son fathered from one of those acts. Brie Larson turns in a haunted, moving performance as the poor woman subjected to such horrors (she notably just won a Globe for her work) but the real standout here is young Jacob Tremblay, who plays Jack. Considering Tremblay has to play the role of a kid who has never seen anything outside the small space he calls Room - in what must be a strange concept for any child, actor or no - it really is a commendable performance. When Jack is asked by his mother to undergo a breakout from Room and set out into the wide world outside his window to find help, it's a testament to Tremblay's acting skills that he so ably sells the wonder and fear of experiencing our world for the first time. Tremblay most definitely deserved the Critics' Choice Award he recently scooped up. Whilst the film is going to be inaccessible for those who prefer to decline witnessing such bleak, abject misery on camera, it rewards those who undertake the affecting journey. The script, adapted from the source novel's own author Emma Donoghue, somehow offers the light of hope through all that darkness, making for must-see humanist drama.