What would you do if you didn’t know where you were going to sleep the next night? For some people, becoming unhoused is an insumountable fear, and some are only a few paychecks away from a dire situation. As darkness falls and temperatures drop a little more, one man must find ways to protect himself in TJ O’Grady-Peyton’s Room Taken. In a film that mixes together the tension of a thriller with the pacing of a drama, we are confronted with an opportunity that could alter the course of one man’s life and begin an unlikely friendship.
Newcomer Gabriel Adewusi plays Isaac, an immigrant whose feet have not yet taken hold since he moved to Ireland. He spends the occasional night with generous friends but has to leave before others return home, and the shelters are, it seems, always full. On one particular evening, a blind woman, Victoria, leaves her bag at a cafe, and a server suggests that Isaac runs after her. Isaac reaches a thankful Victoria at her door, and a chance encounter becomes an opportunity.
As Victoria busies herself with settling in at home, Isaac realizes that she lives alone. He sneaks upstairs and hides himself away in an attic, and Victoria is none the wiser. The image of Isaac standing in Victoria’s doorway is a striking one: the warmth of her and her home are welcoming him as the frigid temperatures lick at his back. Are you sure that you wouldn’t consider the same thing?
O’Grady-Peyton allows us to revel in the time spent in Victoria’s home even though we know Isaac’s actions could get him arrested or in deeper trouble. Adewusi imbues his charcter with generosity rather than selfishness as Isaac relaxes but also feels compelled to help Victoria around her home in the smallest ways possible. He fixes a window and tinkers with a radio. Some might assume that Victoria, played by a wonderful Bríd Brennan, would offer Isaac a place to stay, but Adewusi mixes in the tiniest bit of ever-present fear, his eyes going wide any time he might be found out.
Room Taken could’ve been a treacherous tale of how people take advantage of others, but, to its credit, leans the other way. It’s giving, kind, and never shameful. The next time you shield yourself from a bitter, freezing wind, thank your lucky stars that you don’t need the sanctuary or warmth from someone like Victoria.
