A beautiful short based on the life of a lonesome, corrections officer whose duty is to scan through letters written to inmates from their loved ones.
The background music in very different and interesting. The short maintains a comedic tone underlying, which makes it quite likeable. It's shot so beautifully. And Oscar Issac is like always, a treat to watch on screen.
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AmanBajpai29 January 2021
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isaacsundaralingam17 April 2021The Letter Room is a nice little short about a corrections officer who gets transferred to the prison's prisoner communications department, and how he slowly finds himself involved in the prisoners' private conversations.
The movie felt a little too long, even for a 33-minute short film, but it doesn't mean there is nothing to enjoy here. It's a very easy going film, that doesn't expect too much of the audience, and as such, rewards you with a caring story of humanness in an unlikely place.
Check it out if you can! -
ferguson-65 April 2021Greetings again from the darkness. Richard is a prison guard whose ambitions and progressive ideas have his sights set on a promotion off the daily grind of the cold corridors ... despite an amiable personality that has him as a likable guy amongst the prison workers and the prisoners. In fact, it's that friendliness that drives the warden (Eileen Galindo) to move Richard to the mail room. She presents this as a promotion by bestowing upon him the title of Director of Prisoner Communication.
Oscar Isaac plays Richard in this Oscar nominated short film written and directed by his real life wife, Elvira Lind (BOBBI JENE, 2017). Isaac gives a strong performance and makes Richard a relatable guy - one that seems cheery enough with co-workers, while then going home to watch TV with his dog after warming up leftovers. With a new job that entails scanning incoming and outgoing mail for threats and contraband, Richard is touched by the personal love letters received by Cris (Brian Petsos), one of the death row inmates. Richard is miffed as to why Cris never responds to Rosita (the always interesting Alia Shawkat) and takes it upon himself to find out more ... and yes, this is totally outside the scope of his job.
It may seem odd for a prison to generate warm emotions, but that's part of the brilliance of Ms. Lind's excellent script. In a world where we are currently struggling to find signs of compassion and common courtesy, we watch as this prison guard tries to make things a little better ... and on top of that, interjecting subtle moments of humor add even more of a human touch, while the attention to detail takes us even deeper. This is an excellent story, and in 33 minutes, this world - quite foreign to most of us - becomes something we understand. And it's achieved through the eyes of a lonely guy just trying to do the right thing. -
Horst_In_Translation5 November 2021"The Letter Room" is an American, mostly English-language live action short film from 2020 that runs for slightly over half an hour and managed to score an Oscar nomination earlier this year. This may have had to do with the lead actor here because Guatemalan-born Oscar Isaac (with a massive mustache in here) has won a Golden Globe in the past and he was a lead in a Coen brothers movie and also part of the recent Star Wars films. Definitely not a coincidence that he was a part of this project here and I will tell you why in a second, but it's always nice to see really established actors appear in short movies. The genre needs them and more should follow in Isaac's footsteps. This film was written and directed by Danish filmmaker Elvira Lind and she is Oscar Isaac's wife. The two have collaborated on other occasions too and Lind has a pretty interesting body of work anyway. From music videos over documentaries and a series with a rating below 2.0 here on imdb she moved on to this film here and the Oscar nomination makes it her biggest success of course. This is about a man working in prison and there are some interesting aspects to him. Seems as if he gets along better with the inmates than with his colleagues at times, at least the more harmless inmates you could say. Look at how he makes sure one fella to receives a birthday song from everybody. He seems to be quite a loner and his only non-professional contact with the female species are magazines with naked women. Still he kinda cares for people as we find out when he breaks the rules and heads out to visit a woman who (he thinks) is about to commit suicide. That one is played by Alia Shawkat and fans of Arrested Development will surely recognize her. So yeah, if we briefly summarize this entire thing, we have a man working at a penitentiary and he aspired to get a new and better job there and you can see that he has some ambitions with his talk about how animals can help prison inmates, but for now he has to deal with the letters sent by and sent to the inmates. Steps are small there as well. This is where he comes across the (former) girlfriend of a man on death row and what she includes in her letters has a lasting impact on Isaac's character.
I liked some things about this film. Mostly that it felt pretty realistic all in all. There is no big sob story or anything, no great drama or emotions, even if location and story could have justified it. Also that this film does not try to make a statement for or against the death penalty was a wise choice. The subtlety to it all was nice. Still there are memorable moments like when Shawkat's character talks about the absurdity of Isaac's character trying to save her life while he works at a facility that takes lives on numerous occasions. The guy responds that that is something entirely different and there are no deep discussions that follow up which was good. The film does not try to be more than it actually is. The soundtrack was interesting as well. Drums are something that you really do not hear too often in film soundtracks, so a bold choice and I think it worked. If you like the solution that most of what the woman wrote in these letters is not truth or reality is up to you. She just wants to make her former boyfriend feel better. Some of it is true though as she mentions on one occasion that he was the love of her life. Earlier during this film I thought that maybe the story with the Black man hoping for mail from his daughter would be more at the center of it all, but nope. They move away quickly from that again, but it makes sense as there were no letters waiting for him. In the end, this is referenced again and perhaps this was what I liked the least about this film. How the protagonist, even if we understood he wants to help and do good, writes a letter and pretends it came from the Black man's daughter. It felt a bit like an overly happy ending to me and I would not have needed it. Did not have the most realistic vibe, but maybe it's just me. I also wondered if the Black guy with his comment realized that it was not his daughter writing him, but I think not and this only had to do with how amazed he was that Isaac's character helped him. Overall, the good is more frequent in this film than the weak, so I give the outcome a thumbs-up. The Oscar nomination I am also fine with because I really like Isaac in general, but a win would have been too much. Admittedly, the actual winner is really terrible, so I'd have preferred this one here to take the crown. Still need to watch the other three. -
atractiveeyes22 March 2021The Letter Room, Oscar nominee for best live-action short film, is so beautiful and deep with some dark comedy. The plot is interesting and provoking in a way that makes you don't want the film to end. Oscar Isaac is brilliant. The original score is amazing.
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davestirling13 March 2021Certainly worth watching. It's another example which points out you never what another person is going through. Makes you want to believe that people are good. Watch it - you will enjoy it.
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Quinoa19849 April 2021First of all, there's Oscar Isaac, and... isn't that enough for a review? What else am I going to say? "Hello, Cleveland!" No. This should suffice. That and his mustache. Maybe we should all just be thankful he wasn't cast as Superman a few years back.
Ok, a little more. This is largely driven by Isaac, a star-actor who has the charisma and of a Harrison Ford, being an inherently captivating presence who understands how to draw out behavior and a psychological depth and nuance through just a look or a series of furrowed brows next to that epic stache. But it's furthermore a fairly unique set up and pay off for a story set in prison, in particular death row, and how this officer gets drawn in to this one couple's melancholy and seemingly distressing circumstance is dramatic gold to me. It's always good for me if there's a story where you have a character learning about another without them knowing - voyeurism 101, yeah, of course - but through it being in letters and how the information is doled out alongside direction that means to express that aloneness and genuine want (or even need) to help someone is quite moving. And if you were somehow ever wondering, Alia Shawcat is a devastating dramatic performer and gives her all to a character in just two scenes.
This should get the Oscar (oh hey pun intended I guess?) Not even for the star power but because it combines all that cinema can do in a brief time to leave the greatest impact (White Tiger is a pretty close second IMO). -
fernandaroiga13 February 2021Oscar Isaac truly carries the soul of this film. Thought provoking through the whole run, it compels you to look further into the mind of the protagonist. The character arc that the script set out is masterfully executed, and it's a joy to watch. The direction is another highlight of this piece. Subtle, but with clear intentionality. One truly feels like they're being asked to reflect, nothing is spoon-fed.
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oifan13 February 2021The Letter Room is such an incredible film about a corrections officer who finds himself getting transferred to the prison letter room and getting a little too involved with a prisoner's love letters.
This is such a beautiful short film about loniness, empathy, showing kindness to those that most would call unlovable. It's a film about giving, without the expectation of getting back.
It's not laugh out loud funny, but there are moments that will make you chuckle.
It has plenty of moments of heartbreak and moments that are heart breaking.
Oscar Isaac once again takes a character and brings him to life in a way that will make you fall in love with him. He will break your heart over and over again. When does he not?
See this movie. It's dang near life changing. Itll make you think about things and ask questions that you might not have asked yourself before -
juana-6808910 February 2021Every piece of this film captures your attention. You want to know more! I didn't want it to end!
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RosanaBotafogo8 April 2021How beautiful, pity it's a short, beautiful films shouldn't be limited to short films, but should translate into long and beautiful hours of film ... #Icried So cute and sensitive, the relationship between the protagonist and the prisoner father, deserved it a film just for them...
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postiraseaside26 May 2021Great warm short about how easy it is to come off the right path and about the importance of humanness set against the background of a cold prison setting.
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thisisorganic25 July 2021This is a quiet and unassuming short film that leaves you with a genuinely tough question - is lying ever the right thing to do?
Star studded and exquisitely shot, this short film somehow feels like much more than a short. -
Kirpianuscus27 March 2022A touching film about duty, empathy, loneliness and good gestures. And beautiful work of Oscar Isaac in a role demanding real skils to explore a minimalistic story about letters, death, old men expecting news, a presumed suicide situation and the state of a death condamned man.
Each detail sounds just inspired.
The message is not only generous, old fashion one , well crafted but profound useful, being, in essence, precious warning, seeming a parable about options and job, generosity and courage to become useful to the other as giver of unique help. -
leftbanker-13 October 2021The first question everyone should ask after watching this movie is why don't we have more short films available in this era when most of us watch movies at home? Why are we still chained to the old norms of cinema releases when movies had to be 90 minutes? It's ironic because instead of having more short films available, features are getting longer and not better, like Paul Shrader's latest film starring Oscar Isaac, The Card Counter which runs 1h51m and was too long. WE have trash comic book movies that run four hours. So why not give us more options and more shorts?
A different story about prison life which shows the keepers as lonely and forlorn as the miserable souls they lord over. -
jacopfan3 October 2021Odd and charming film, so glad I saw it. I'm going to find and buy this soundtrack.
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RosanaBotafogo8 April 2021Ue beautiful, pity it's a short, beautiful films shouldn't be reduced to short films, but should translate into long and beautiful hours of film ... #I cried So cute and sensitive, the relationship between the protagonist and the prisoner father, deserved it a film just for them...
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Gordon-111 May 2021It is an interesting story, and I wish there is more elaboration on the strange glimpse into private lives.