The Quiet Room

Critics Consensus

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Movie Info

Dutch-Australian director Rolf de Heer's second film is a vision of a quickly dissolving marriage as seen through the eyes of a seven-year-old child. Chloe Ferguson (de Heer's real-life daughter) stars as a nameless little girl who withdraws completely into herself and refuses to speak as the level of animosity between her mother (Celine O'Leary) and father (Paul Blackwell) moves them inexorably closer to divorce. The girl's voice is heard, however, as narration, in which she describes her increasing alienation from the squabbling adults who are becoming more self absorbed, and more childish, than their child. Her only refuge is her blue-walled room, a fantasyland of goldfish and Barbie dolls that don't bicker, where she can remember happier days when she as three, or dream of a pet dog and a house in the country. The theme of an immature soul trapped by family within the confines of a home thematically mirrored de Heer's more controversial previous film Bad Boy Bubby (1993), which did not find North American distribution. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Rating:

PG
Genre:

Drama
Directed By:

Rolf de Heer
Written By:

Rolf de Heer
In Theaters:

Mar 21, 1997 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Mar 11, 2008
Runtime:

91 minutes
Studio:

Warner Home Video

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Cast

Celine O'Leary
as Mother

Paul Blackwell
as Father

Chloe Ferguson
as Child Aged 7

Phoebe Ferguson
as Child Aged 3

Celine O' Leary

Kate Greetham

Peter Ferris

Peter Green

Todd Telford

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Critic Reviews for The Quiet Room

All Critics (5) | Top Critics (1)

The Quiet Room was a little too quiet for me.

Mar 28, 2003 | Rating: C | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A profound film about the emotional intelligence of little children and the holy calling of parenthood.

Feb 26, 2002 | Full Review…

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice
An exceptional, if not perfect, Australian drama that gets farther into the inner workings of a child's mind than any other film I've ever seen.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Dustin Putman
TheFilmFile.com

View All Critic Reviews (5)

Audience Reviews for The Quiet Room

Jul 03, 2012

This one is so quiet that I even forgot watching it.

John B Super Reviewer
Aug 21, 2008

I cried my eyes out. After the movie was over, my parents came into my room and sat on my bed. They asked me why I cried so much during this movie and if it was because I really related to the main character. We had a long family discussion until 3 AM about how they will try not to fight anymore and reassured me that they wouldn't get a divorce. The movie was so good that I rented it a couple times from the library after seeing it. Then, I recently bought it at a video store because I wanted to add it to my collection. It is a good movie to watch and then talk about after with your kids.

Dannielle A Super Reviewer