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In the Room Where He Waits (Australia)

By Golu
As expected a lot of films are being made set during the covid times. Taking the imposed restrictions around the circumstances of hotel quarantine, where when you travelled, one had to do a mandatory 14 day quarantine in a hotel, the film maker uses that as the story idea behind making this psychological horror thriller. I am not a big fan of horror and this wasn't really a scary horror film per se, but still at places it just felt to overstretched, which was bound to happen when you have a film which is almost just one character.

Toby is an Australian actor living in US. He finds himself in a mandatory two week quarantine in a Brisbane hotel and is here to attend his father's funeral. He is trying to keep himself busy by doing online rehearsals for his play. Trapped inside this tiny room on his own, with no living soul in sight, Toby tries his best to stay on top of work and keep himself occupied. He also had to leave behind his boyfriend and it seems they are going through a tremulous time and maybe are in the verge of breakup. Between Grindr chats, his acting practice and exercise, he tries to keep busy. But one day to another, he starts to feel that something is off. He finds a shirt, an underwear and a pair of cufflinks in his room and how ever hard he tries to get rid of the things they keep coming back. He feels someone present in the room. The room keycard keeps falling out in middle of night. While Tobin cannot leave the room, he must do what he can to survive the horror that resides in the room and in his mind. The hotel refuses to do anything and Toby starts to wonder if something is off with him. Between calls within mom and his best friend, he starts to feel he is losing his mind. Eventually hotel changes his room, but he starts seeing his father's death. The ending is a bit muffled for me, but I think the film ends when he finishes his 14 days but someone has died in the hotel.

This is a very claustrophobic film with entirety of it being shot in a single hotel room. Having the lead trapped in a room, unable to leave for any reason is also the perfect setting for a horror movie. As the hauntings get more intense and Tobin’s visions start to blur into reality but the film very soon started to feel repetitive. Certain sequences bring more or less to the table than others, and juggling the variety of conflicts result in certain elements coming across as a little undercooked. The film relies entirely on the shoulders of the lead actor who is also real life disabled and gay. The strongest moments of observing Toby in the film come from his navigating of these two aspects of his identity - staying fit and navigating a room not built to accomodate him, and scrolling Grindr for some sort of text-based connection from inside his hotel prison. In fact, as that panic begins to build and the danger becomes more potent, Toby's emotional suffering becomes all the more upsetting and nerve-racking to watch. But my frustration is that none of it is clearly concluded. The film is mostly silent with very few dialogues. A queer, gothic psychological horror set in a hotel room is a good idea, but would have been even better to show something more than just the fear of the lead. For me, the story wasn't particularly gripping. I'm not sure if it was just being ambitious and trying to tell a story I just didn't get, or if it was just a little undercooked and low on both scares and meaning for me. It only worked because of very good acting by its lead actor. Maybe, this film works for fans of horror genre. (4/10)
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