“The Room Below” follows Mia, a mother haunted by the loss of her son who sees a second chance in a boy who enters her life at the perfect moment. As a creature hidden within her home grows more dangerous and a missing child investigation leads to her doorstep, she must face a deadly confrontation with the truth.
Presented with a grieving mom, it’s likely that viewers’ first emotion when watching “The Room Below” will be sympathy. This is what writer-director Kurt Martin wants. Very quickly, however, this is undermined with different feelings: suspicion and fear. As the narrative progresses, this then changes to… confusion.
Attempting to be part standard horror, part psychological thriller and part creature feature, “The Room Below” often becomes convoluted. What you get is too many different things at once. There’s a mom going through a mental crisis. There’s a child attempting to escape abduction. There’s a monster hungry for blood. There’s a detective conducting an investigation. Separately, these aspects don’t make complete sense, but additional context does help put the pieces together. The primary focus of the film is a psychological one, with all of the other fragments surrounding it. Because of this, certain subplots (specifically the creature) feel like unnecessary additions to round out the genre status. Had Martin fully committed to one, the narrative likely would have flowed more cohesively as a whole.
While not featured prominently, the monster’s practical effects are impressive. Director of photography Glenn Hanns aids in this by capturing the creature in low-light settings, hiding some of the flaws while upping the “creep factor.” There’s never an abundance of blood shed, but there are still a few skin-crawling moments.
An obvious theme that comes away from all of this is grief and the trauma that is associated with it. While Mia’s brain takes a horrific turn, it’s very normal for the mind to shut down following a tragic loss. If left alone, this can lead to some very dark places — aka “The Room Below.” Ultimately, it functions as a character study of Mia, who isn’t an easy person to root for. This isn’t the first movie to feature an unreliable lead, with other 2026 releases like “Sleepwalker,” “Fathers” and “Spades” having similar approaches.
Alyssa Sutherland’s (Mia) performance makes the character a fascinating one. On the surface, she is cheerful and charismatic, delivering line after line of enthusiastic dialogue. But with specific inflections and facial expressions, it’s clear that something sinister is hidden beneath. Gilbert Bradman (Simon) is impressive as well. He conveys the innocence of childhood, while also demonstrating the fear that comes when others take advantage of that. Similar to Sutherland, he is able to switch tones in an instant, going from a loving child to desperately angry. Jonathan Rhys Meyers (John) also appears. While brief, he brings a sense of genuineness that contrasts with Sutherland’s “crazy.”
What “The Room Below” does exceptionally well is continue to raise the stakes until the very end. At the start, there’s a definitive “this is weird” vibe. Then, that shifts into “this is scary.” Finally, it moves towards “this is unhinged.” While some of the surprises are predictable, several twists still arise that are bound to surprise viewers.
“The Room Below” has too many ideas on its mind, but they remain easy to absorb through Martin’s direction. Sutherland delivers a versatile performance that keeps you on your toes until the credits roll.
Rating: 3 out of 5
