The story follows two lifelong friends Izzy (Viktoria Vinyarska) and Kim (Francesa Xuereb), who find cheap accommodation in Quincy. While Kim dreams of becoming a journalist, Izzy aspires to be an actress. During his stay, the city gets out of control thanks to a hole in his charming old apartment: the story is about mythical creatures and family legends, all linked to the titular room.
This hole seems the simplest thing to do, because it is quite small. However, if you try to put a nail and hang a mirror on it, it will not work. And, if you put your hand inside, you might find a mysterious necklace. The hole also emits a strange smell and resembles a putrefactive wound.
Room 203 officially premiered on April 14 on the US streaming platform Spectrum On Demand, a service that provides access to thousands of movies and TV shows, including content from NBC, ABC, CBS and others. In Latin America you can easily find it on different websites dedicated to film and television.
The film also features generic totems of fear, such as a music box, a demonic amulet hanging from a necklace, black crows, a Celtic pagan symbol embedded in the window and the headline of a decades-old newspaper “The director of a bank murders his pregnant wife and then commits suicide”. (And his initials are inscribed on the music box!) With that information you can already imagine the background of the story.
¿Historia de la vida real?
No, Room 203 is not based on a true story. However, behind its veil of horror, the story indicates how much young people long to find cheap accommodation and how they would look beyond the apparent red flags to tackle a room. The housing problem may have some truth, especially in urban spaces, but the horror is apparently fictitious.
The film was shot entirely in the United States, especially in Louisiana, and has a runtime of 1 hour and 44 minutes. Ben Jagger ('Corbin Nash') teamed up with John Poliquin and Nick Richey to write the screenplay for the film. In the process, they adapted the novel J-horror of the same name by Japanese novelist Nanami Kamon.
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