ROOM (15) 118 mins. Starring Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers and Joan Allen.

Home is where the broken hearts are.

In Lenny Abrahamson's riveting drama, based on the book of the same name by Emma Donoghue, a twenty-something mother and her child are imprisoned in a shed that has been their home since she was abducted at the age of 17.

Canadian author Donoghue was inspired to pen this harrowing family portrait in response to the Josef Fritzl case.

Her skilful screen adaptation loses none of the raw emotional power thanks to two blistering central performances.

Brie Larson is sensational as the kidnapped parent and equally impressive is seven-year-old Jacob Tremblay as the boy trapped in a living nightmare beyond his comprehension.

From the moment he was born, Jack (Tremblay) has only known the four walls and skylight of the squalid single room he shares with his Ma (Larson).

Every day when he wakes, Jack cheerfully addresses the furniture in his makeshift home.

The boy is blissfully unaware that Ma was abducted as a teenager by a man called Old Nick (Sean Bridgers), who is holding them hostage.

Despite her ordeal, Ma protects Jack from sickening reality as best she can. A television is their only outlet to the outside world that the boy might never see.

After years of suffering, Ma concocts a daring plan to get Jack away from Old Nick and hopefully into the arms of her parents Robert (William H Macy) and Nancy (Joan Allen).

If the escape bid fails, however, the repercussions are unthinkable.