An Average Movie-Goer’s Review
Spoilers! If you don’t want spoilers – check out the Spoiler-Free post
I love horror movies and if I’m going to watch them anyway, why not write an entertaining/funny review from the POV of an average movie-goer and not a professional critic.
Today we’re looking at Room 203 based on the Japanese novel of the same name written by Nanami Kamon.
When two best friends (Francesca Xuereb and Viktoria Vinyarska) move into a new gothic style apartment one is plagued by nightmares while the other is targeted by a curse.
Is it Scary?
Room 203 starts off with some pretty creepy scenes but loses that tension early as it switches to focus on establishing the main characters. Unfortunately it spends more time with the friendship than the scares, that’s not always a bad thing but it does make the movie not as terrifying than it should be.
In the end you won’t leave the movie scared unless you like wearing jewelry that you find in random holes in new apartments.
Detailed Plot:
The film opens as we hear someone chanting something he is reading from a book. We don’t see his face but he lifts a knife above his head and we cut away before anything else happens.
We open on a maintenance worker, Chad, fixing up an apartment when a hole on the wall behind him spits up a ball of putty. Confused he looks in the hole as his boss walks in who jokingly calls it a gloryhole and says that it appears there every year. He tells him to just cover it up with wallpaper and call it a day as he’s not paying overtime.
After his boss leaves the apartment Chad continues pulling out the putty from the hole. Reaching in, his arm gets stuck. After some pulling, it’s finally free but he now has a cut on his hand and notices a necklace has fallen out of the hole.
Later that night Chad is still at the apartment raking in that overtime as his girlfriend, Lena, walks in with beers. The two stare at the stained glass window in the living and Chad mentions he bought her something. He then reveals the necklace he found in the wall and puts it around her neck.
Chad then goes to get her another beer and Lena appears to be grabbed by something or in some kind of trance. We hear the cracking of her bones as she breaks the beer bottle in her hand and uses the remaining glass to cut her own neck.
Chad runs out of the room to get help and as he slams the door we see all of this has been happening in Room 806… Nah just kidding, Room 203 like the title of the movie. Title card!
We open with our main character, Kim (played by Francesca Xuereb) getting a ride into the city from her parents. As they drive they tell her she is making a mistake and ‘she’ is a bad influence on her. Kim does her best to ignore them but as they arrive at a building, her mother tells her that if she gets out of the car to never comes back. At least they gave her a ride, right?
Kim angrily gets out of the car with her luggage and enters the apartment building where she finds her friend, Izzy (played by Viktoria Vinyarska) waiting for her, also with her luggage. We learn aspiring actor Izzy is the ‘she’ Kim’s parents were talking about and aspiring journalist Kim has decided to rent an apartment with Izzy.
The two happily get into the elevator and ride it to their new floor where their new landlord creepy Ronan (played by Scott Gremillion) meets them.
Ronan takes them to their new fully furnished apartment while he tells them the rules of the building; no pets, no music after 9, and no tenants allowed in the basement. We also learn that the apartments were just renovated so the only other tenant on that floor is himself. The three enter the apartment and as Ronan closes the door we see it’s Room 203! DUN DUN DUNNN.
The girls love the apartment, specifically the stained glass window but when they try to touch it, Ronan snaps at them demanding they not touch it. He explains it’s a historic building and the window cannot be damaged.
That night as Kim is unpacking in her room, she spots an indent in the wallpaper. She immediately pokes her fingers through it creating a hole. Turns out this is the same room from the beginning of the movie. Kim hangs a mirror in front of the hole and goes to check on Izzy.
She’s fine, so the girls put on some pretty loud music and start to party despite it being clearly past 9.
The next morning Izzy tries to convince Kim to go out partying again that night but Kim rejects her as she has college orientation the following day. Before she leaves Kim’s room, she notices the hole in the wall and Kim tells her the mirror fell during the night.
Izzy looks into the hole and reaches inside thinking she saw something. After pranking Kim that her hand was stuck she pulls out the same necklace from the beginning of the movie. Claiming herself to be the queen of vintage, she immediately wears it… so she’s dead.
That night the girls are out drinking with two guys they met at a bar and we learn Izzy went to rehab for drugs. One of the guys, Steve, is a real drunk dick and rubs Kim’s leg even after she tells him to stop. His friend, Tony, angrily questions what he’s doing and Steve tries to play it off. He then randomly calls Izzy a bitch and she punches him in the face, instantly knocking him out.
The girls and Tony all leave and arrive at the building with Tony and Izzy making out as they walk down the hall. Before they enter the apartment Kim looks behind her and sees Ronan watching them from around the corner. Instead of telling him not to be weird, she apologizes for the noise.
In the apartment, Kim goes to bed while Tony and Izzy go to Izzy’s room. Izzy immediately falls asleep to Tony’s dismay so he goes to the kitchen to grab a drink. On his way there he sees the large stained glass window and is entranced until he hears someone runs past down the hall. He then goes to the bathroom and while peeing, we see a knife plunged into his stomach. We don’t see who did it, it was as if it magically appeared there.
This turns out to be a nightmare as Kim wakes up shocked. Seeing the light on through the bottom of her door, she goes out to investigate and catches the glimpse of someone leaving the apartment. She then checks on Izzy who is still asleep in her room and finds the necklace on the floor.
The following morning Izzy wakes Kim up late for orientation so she runs out of the apartment. Unfortunately, she arrives late but she meets the tour guide, another journalism major named Ian (played by Eric Wiegand). He offers to give her an exclusive tour in exchange for a coffee and she agrees.
During some light flirting and the two getting to know each other, we learn Kim helped Izzy through the death of her mother and subsequent drug use. Ian encourages Kim to use that time in her life as a basis for a paper she’ll have to write for a notoriously difficult professor.
That night Kim returns home and finds a note from Izzy telling her she went out for drinks. Smelling something weird, Kim lights some incense and finds a musical jewelry box in the living room with “To my dearest Karen, Always Yours L.M.” inscribed on the inside.
Later Kim sits down at her computer to write the paper that Ian suggested and she’s writing it in bold italics… what the hell? Also, did her professor even assign the paper today? I thought it was just orientation day, why is she starting it so soon… is this what regular good college students do?!
Anyway since the paper she is writing is about Izzy, we get a small piece of narrated backstory while seeing scenes of Izzy currently in a bar. At first, Izzy is drinking, crying, and smoking but after a few more drinks she accepts a drink from a woman watching her at the bar. The only thing we really learn is that Izzy’s drug use led to an overdose.
A short time later, Kim wakes up just in time to see what I think is a bird being dragged into the hole in her wall. After giving the appropriate reaction of “what the fuck” she proceeds to look into the hole without even turning on the lights or using a flashlight. There’s a jump scare as she gets real close to the hole and something bangs on her door.
As the banging continues Kim approaches the door without a weapon and opens it. Hey, it’s Izzy! Oh, she’s in some kind of weird trance holding the musical jewelry box and says “she’s still with us, I can feel her.” Blood then starts flowing down her head.
Kim brings Izzy into her room, cleans off the blood, and takes her to bed where they both fall asleep. The following morning Kim goes to see Izzy in her room and the first thing she asks is unbelievably not, “hey, about last night, umm what the fuck?”.
Instead, Kim skirts around the issue and Izzy simply tells her she doesn’t remember anything but used to sleepwalk as a kid. When Kim tries to ask more, Izzy ignores the question and continues installing a lock on her own door saying it will help.
In the living room, Izzy shares that she meant a woman, Sandy, at the bar who happens to be a casting assistant and is going to get Izzy a part on a tv show. Kim congratulates her and doesn’t ask any more details like, “what happened between meeting Sandy and you bleeding at my door” or “does Sandy look like she would gladly hit you over the head with an object.” But, Kim does tell Izzy about Ian, so there’s that.
Later Kim is in her virtual class and asks her professor if it’s unethical to write her paper based on Izzy’s experience. By the way, she’s asking about the paper she already started writing. The professor tells her that as long as she doesn’t name Izzy, she’s fine. Here’s another thought, how about ask Izzy first?
Izzy walks into the room causing Kim to quickly close the laptop. Izzy tells her she’s going for the audition and then for drinks with Sandy. She’s also still wearing the necklace she found in the hole.
Taking Izzy’s advice, Kim calls Ian and they go out for a coffee date but before she leaves, she hangs the mirror above the hole in her wall again. On the date, we learn that Izzy’s mother died of an accidental overdose, and because Izzy was using drugs, Kim’s parents refused to let Kim attend the funeral. Feeling alone, Izzy purposely took a bunch of pills in a failed suicide attempt. From that day on Kim has promised to always be by Izzy’s side.
As Kim starts breaking down from telling the story, Ian makes her feel better by giving her a ride on his handlebars. That’s not a euphemism, he doesn’t have a car. It’s an adorable scene as they ride through the city on the bike… the laughs from Kim do feel a bit forced though.
After dropping her off at her building, Kim agrees to go on another date with Ian. He’s totally going to die.
That night, Kim is continuing to write the paper when the mirror on the wall falls and shatters. She then hears their front door open and sees Izzy and Sandy return to the apartment where they start making out. Since she doesn’t want to disturb them, Kim stays in her room but also accidentally steps on the glass from the mirror.
Later Kim wakes up to the sounds of the music box playing and follows the music to the living room. There she finds Izzy holding it and staring at the stained glass window in some kind of trance. As Kim reaches her, in a jump scare, Izzy screams and runs out of the apartment.
In the hallway Kim sees Izzy get into the elevator and head to the basement. Using the stairs, she runs down and finds a completely empty basement that is definitely a murder dungeon.
Walking through the basement, Kim hears what sounds like someone choking in a dark corner but is distracted when Izzy runs past behind her. Following the music sounds, Kim finds Izzy standing in a corner. After taking the music box, Izzy screams and starts peeing herself but at least she’s seemingly out of the trance.
The next morning Izzy is crying in Kim’s arms unsure of what is going on. Kim asks her not to drink and Izzy says she won’t as she has a callback audition. She also says she can’t go to the doctor due to a lack of insurance. #America
Later at school, Kim tells Ian about what’s been going on and he thinks that shit is weird. He encourages her to investigate and offers himself up as her ‘assistant’. The two return to the apartment finding the front door open and Ronan in the living room.
Ronan tells them he let himself in to treat the stained glass window. Kim requests he tell them first before entering their apartment but Ronan ignores her and tells her to stay out of the basement. After he leaves, Ian takes several pictures of the window noting the strange symbols and Kim shows him the music box.
Izzy returns to the apartment and tells Kim that Sandy never showed up to the audition so it didn’t go well. Kim takes Ian to her room where she shows him the hole; that’s not a euphemism, I’m referring to the hole in the wall. She tells him Izzy found the necklace in there and Ian questions why Izzy would wear something she found on the wall, but Kim has no answer because it’s freaking crazy.
The two then split the research with Kim looking at the history of the apartment while Ian looks into the window. After a few hours, Ian finds out one of the symbols is a druid pagan symbol which, in a horror movie, is not a good sign.
Meanwhile, Kim finds out the music box belonged to Bank Manager Liam McNally who gave it to his pregnant wife, Karen, before he killed her and himself. Turns out they lived in Room 203 DUN DUN DUNN.
The Googling Duo eventually find more murders and deaths linked to Room 203 which should be an immediate signal to move out but first Kim and Ian accidentally touch fingers. After an awkward glance, Kim decides to show him her hole… her mouth hole! They kiss! Get your mind out of the gutter…
They do have sex though.
We fade to black and that night we see in her room hyperventilating as we hear faint whispers. Izzy finally stops but appears to enter a trance as one of her eyes glosses over white. Cutting back to Kim’s room, she wakes up to the sound of something in her room and is shocked to see a raven at the edge of her bed.
Kim is extremely terrified of the bird especially when it flies right at her. As she screams the raven disappears and Ian comforts her, telling her it was just a dream.
The following day as Izzy arrives home, a delivery man drops off two packs of paper which Izzy takes to Kim’s room. There she finds the already printed out essay Kim wrote about her and is not happy.
Meanwhile, Ian visits St. Mark’s Cathedral to compare the stained-glass windows there to the pictures of the one in Room 203. He realizes one of his pictures is upside down and actually depicts a demon.
Kim goes to visit Milton Briggs, one of the janitors of the building back when the McNallys lived in Room 203. He’s also the only witness of Liam killing his pregnant wife and himself. Milton reveals that the baby survived but doesn’t know what happened to him.
Kim returns to the apartment and finds a drunk Izzy who confronts her about the essay, throwing it at her. Honestly drunk Izzy has some very good points and has every right to be hurt. Kim tries to tell her about the deaths of the McNallys but Izzy doesn’t listen and accuses her of abandoning her when she needed her.
Also, I don’t see why Kim feels the need to tell Izzy about the McNallys when no real connection to what’s happening to Izzy has been made. Izzy storms out of the apartment leaving Kim alone to pick up the papers.
Back with detective Ian, he finds the symbol on the window matches one of a pagan god, Morrigu. Apparently, Morrigu is the god of revenge, war, and death, often taking the form of a raven. Ian immediately heads to Kim’s apartment while attempting to call her.
Meanwhile, a defeated Kim enters her room, takes out a hammer, and just starts wailing on the wall making the hole way bigger until a freaking hand falls out. Shocked, Kim stumbles out of the room. Ronan appears from behind her and forcefully grabs her.
Kim wakes up a short time later bound and gagged by Ronan… Dude was really serious about the no-noise after 9 pm rule. Ronan reveals he is the baby of the McNally’s and the necklace Izzy is wearing belonged to his mother. Somehow Morrigu chooses who wears the necklace and they become a sacrifice for her.
Ronan says that Izzy is somehow fighting the influence and because of this he has to sacrifice someone or else Morrigu will come after him. While he monologues Kim takes the opportunity and runs but Ronan catches her pretty quick.
Ian arrives at the apartment and seeing the door to 203 open, heads inside. There he finds the hand on the ground but also finds Izzy in the living room. Looking a bit possessed, she tells him Kim isn’t home but that he can wait. She grabs him and pushes him onto the couch as we cut away. Meanwhile, Kim is still dealing with her little problem.
As he pins Kim down, Ronan tells her he found his father’s journal that explained everything about Morrigu. Apparently, we don’t get to know this entire explanation because we only get vague tidbits. Somehow Morrigu cursed his parents (possibly as an old family curse) and required them to sacrifice others for her to feed. His parents refused and Morrigu possessed Liam to kill Karen.
Ronan recites the ritual and is about to stab Kim but she kicks him off of her. She then grabs the knife and stabs him in the eye. Kim runs out of the room and back into her apartment where she finds the now-dead Ian. We’re not shown how he died but it appears like his throat was slashed. It’s hard to tell because the movie is so dark, you saw the screenshots.
Kim apologizes profusely, which doesn’t help and covers him in a blanket. Exiting the apartment she sees Izzy head down to the basement and chases after her, narrowly avoiding a gun-wielding Ronan.
In the basement, Ronan catches up to Kim and throws her against a wall. Before he can do anything else, Kim grabs some sand off the ground, throws it at him, and runs off.
Kim runs into an old vault and hears someone choking in the dark. Thinking it’s Izzy she approaches but falls back when it’s revealed to be Ronan’s father… what? It doesn’t help that this whole section is pretty dark so I can barely see the person. But as Ronan arrives, Kim says it’s his father and he doesn’t deny it although he does say it means ‘she’ is here.
Assuming the ‘she’ he is referring to is Morrigu, I’m going to assume Morrigu is only manifesting as Ronan’s dead father and is choking because she is starving. To add to this, Ronan doesn’t appear to see his father, and Morrigu-as-Ronan’s-dad disappears as Ronan enters.
Ronan pulls out his gun and is about to kill Kim but he becomes possessed and shoots himself instead. It’s not clear if this is because Morrigu came after him for taking so long like Ronan said would happen or if Possessed Izzy somehow made him to do it.
Kim continues searching for Izzy and eventually finds her at the other end of a long hall with flickering lights. Izzy asks for help but also sounds a bit demonic and is clearly struggling for control against Morrigu. Kim tells her to take off the necklace but Morrigu-Izzy laughs and reveals a knife.
Morrigu-Izzy disappears and reappears in front of Kim in a scene that could have been creepier but loses it when Morrigu-Izzy just stands there hissing. She then lifts the knife in the air giving Kim ample time to grab her arm which is exactly what she does. The two struggle on the ground and Morrigu-Izzy is stabs Kim in the back or side but again, it’s too freaking dark to tell.
As Morrigu-Izzy is about to go for the killing blow with the knife, Kim reaches up and rips the necklace off of her, releasing Izzy from possession. The two decide they need to break the window and return to Room 203. Kim grabs the hammer she used to break the wall and they enter the living room where Izzy is shocked to see Ian dead.
Before Kim can throw the hammer, a bunch of ravens start ramming into the window. Kim throws the hammer anyway creating a large hole and releasing enough force it throws both of them back.
The film ends as EMTs take Kim to the hospital with Izzy by her side as Kim narrates her essay. We then pan over to Room 203 as we hear whispers coming from the broken window… sequel baiting!
Review:
Room 203 is okay. The strongest part of the movie is the friendship between Kim and Izzy and Francesca Xuereb (Kim) and Viktoria Vinyarska (Izzy) do a great job in the film portraying that. The other actors in the movie also do a pretty good job, Scott Gremillion as Ronan and Eric Wiegand as Ian both elevate the movie with their portrayals.
The dialogue started off pretty awful but gets way better as the movie goes. The first time we see Kim and Izzy together there is some pretty cringey dialogue with one of the girls calling the building ‘lit’, asking the other ‘do you concur?’, and saying ‘this is beyond.’
These phrases were pretty popular years ago and since all three are used within five minutes it felt like someone was trying to too hard to convince us that Kim and Izzy are young and ‘cool’. I was pretty worried the movie would continue to shove that dialogue down our throats but it went away immediately.
The story had a pretty good and logical premise to start with, cursed object starts infecting one friend the other has to save them but then the logic slowly goes off the rails. Why is Izzy able to stop the curse from killing herself when the first person we see it infect, dies within seconds? The movie sort of even admits it doesn’t have an answer when Ronan tells Kim that ‘somehow’ Izzy is fighting the influence. This is right before he says he has his father’s journal which tells him everything about Morrigu.
The other question is why is Kim the one having nightmares? She’s not infected or cursed. For awhile I thought maybe the movie was faking us out by making it seem the nightmares were Kim’s but were actually Izzy’s, but then Kim sees the raven in her room that disappears.
At one point Ronan says Morrigu needs a steady flow of sacrifices or else it will come after him but his parents died when he was born, how was Morrigu getting her sacrifices then? What happened to Tony and Sandy from the bar? Kim had a dream of Tony getting stabbed and Sandy never showed back up to work so were they killed? If so, wouldn’t that have satisfied Morrigu? Wouldn’t Ronan have known about that? Also why did Ian’s death not satisfy Morrigu?
Amazingly the other parts of the movie make up for all these questions, plus these scenes also happen pretty fast so you probably won’t think about them till after the movie is over. Finally, the movie is dark, not dark like depressingly serious, dark like they forgot to turn on the light in the last third of the movie.
Overall I would only recommend Room 203 if you have nothing else to watch, you aren’t looking for a really scary movie, or if you watch it with your best friend so you can constantly ask them ‘would you do that for me?’
Cast IMDB