The Perfect Mystery Thriller Is A Taut Masterclass In Tension, And Everyone’s Missing It
Written by Robert Scucci | Published
As an avid fan of all kinds of thrillers, I love watching a good whodunit unfold because nothing beats trying to solve the mystery before the credits roll. I just watched the 2020s The Oak Room first of all, I’m surprised no one is talking about this movie, which isn’t a whodunit like “who’s going to make it?” I also understand why no one is talking about it, though, because it had such a soft release that it’s no wonder it didn’t show up on most people’s radar.
The best part about The Oak Room its indirect use. There are so many moving parts in the way of stories in stories that it becomes increasingly difficult to figure out who is telling the truth and who is just twisting the strings to get someone else out of the room. There are visual clues to help fill in the blanks, but they’re definitely not the kind you’ll find on your first pass. It’s not until you get far enough into the film that you realize you should have paid more attention to the little details. By the time you get to the end, you’ll want to get started right away The Oak Room fill in and unlock its mystery once you understand what’s really at stake.
I’ll spare you the Great Details
Mysteries like The Oak Room they have the best information when you go in blind, without preconceived notions. What you really need to know is that Steve (RJ Mitte) shows up at a bar in the middle of a snowy night to talk to his estranged uncle, Paul (Peter Outerbridge), about paying off a debt. We find out in their first conversation that Steve’s father, Gordon (Nicholas Campbell), has died and that Steve didn’t make it to the funeral. Steve owes Paul a lot of money, and Paul refuses to hand over Gordon’s ashes until that debt is paid.
Once this dynamic is established, Steve shows Paul a coaster from a place called The Oak Room he begged him to listen to his story about what happened there. Paul warns Steve that he has until midnight to fix things because someone is coming to fix him. Steve responds by telling a funny story about a bartender named Michael (Ari Millen) and a nightclub patron named Richard (Martin Roach) who seem to be stuck together. Paul suspects that Steve is making the story more dramatic, something his late father was known to do to pass the time drinking.
Saying that “a story is worth a thousand words,” Steve admits that he started at the end and insists that there are revelations that must go on once the story gets to the beginning. Paul recounts several of his stories involving Gordon, and the tension in the room continues to grow. Steve knows something Paul doesn’t, and Paul is content to let him talk long enough to see if he gets what’s coming to him.
Make sure you close the correct directories
The Oak Room it is a dialogue-heavy film where narratives are played out for the viewer to relate to. Wall clocks, sets of car keys, and other visual clues are scattered to help you piece together the timeline, but these clues can only take you so far in fully understanding the relationship between Steve and Paul. Their hatred is obvious, yet their willingness to hear each other suggests a long and complicated history. There are brief moments of irritation and genuine curiosity between them, but both men remain careful in how they choose their words.
Part of the fun with similar movies The Oak Room it comes from enjoying the act of telling the story itself. I was already expecting a twist ending, but Steve proves to be incredibly skilled at spinning his threads, knowing exactly how to stretch them to the bone. With a raging storm outside and nowhere else to go, it’s only a matter of time before we learn how these seemingly disconnected stories came to be.
RJ Mitte delivers his best performance since Breaking Bad in the middle The Oak Roomand his calm menace conveys each occasion in his monologue to Paul. Paul, not sure if he’s laughing at Steve’s stories or preparing for what’s to come, always seems to be one step ahead, though there’s no way to know for sure if that’s true. A category of expertise in indirect storytelling and attribution of error, The Oak Room it’s a tense game of a bottle slowly tightening its grip, and it’s only a matter of time before that bottle explodes in shocking and deeply satisfying ways.
The Oak Room is streaming for free on Tubi and Plex.
