Indie Spotlight- The White Room

In an ongoing effort to help aspiring filmmakers and promote independent films, particularly those struggling with distribution and releases, we periodically feature films in our ‘Indie Spotlight’ series for your consideration.

The White Room (2017) (English & Spanish Language)

87min

Genre:      Drama, Thriller

Director:   James Erskine

Cast:        Óscar Jaenada, Kae Alexander, Velibor Topic…and more

Writer:     James Erskine

-Synopsis-

Colombian immigrant ‘Alberto’ is a hard-working, god-fearing and humble young man, keeping his head down and plying his trade as a massage therapist in multi-cultural London, in the hopes of raising enough money to support his family and head back home. As usual though “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”, as his life begins to unravel when he inexplicably begins to see disturbing visions of the future—premonitions which challenge his morality and uncover a troubling destiny . . . for himself and those around him.

In a career defined mostly by documentaries—largely of the sporting variety—and British television dramas, writer/director James Erskine has shown a flair for the gritty truth and cutting to the bare bones and the humanity of his subjects. Now for his third feature film, Erskine combines elements of faith and belief—from Judaeo-Christian mythology to palmistry and even the prophetic works of Nostradamus—with a contemporary immigrant story and human drama, and wraps it up in a tense and tight, effective little indie thriller.

Well-travelled Catalan actor Óscar Jaenada (Che: Part Two, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) stars as Alberto himself; a straight-laced man and observant Christian with the scars of childhood trauma, living and working illegally in London but longing for home . . . despite the promise of a supposedly better life in the UK. When he begins to see prophetic signs through the marks on his massage clients’ bodies, Alberto’s friends and fellow immigrants neighbour ‘Mak’ (Velibor Topic) and co-worker ‘Sun-Li’ (Kae Alexander) begin to worry when his behaviour becomes more erratic, as his obsession becomes tied to the fate or a rising silver-tongued local politician (Bill Paterson) who promises much.

There’s no doubt that ‘The White Room’ has a supernatural element to it, seen through the filter of religion and belief as Alberto begins to question whether he’s actually developing a measure of clairvoyance or in fact having a mental breakdown, while the audience is also left in the dark to an extent—but it’s all quite subtle, and given that this is a small indie production, don’t expect to see a version of ‘The Omen’ or the like.

Instead Erskine uses the soothsaying and religious iconography to layer a tense story about a good man in a less than decent world, with an ability which throws his life into turmoil and makes this a psychological thriller as well as a human drama. This is also a timely mediation on the hot topic of immigration in the Western world, set in the backdrop of social unrest and dealing with a side of the immigrant experience in London—in the vein of 2002’s brilliant Stephen Frears drama ‘Dirty Pretty Things’, although not dwelling quite so much on the city’s dark underbelly.

Apart from the director’s handling of an interesting mashup of themes and a simple but gripping little story, it’s the actors and their performances which bring the film to life and make it watchable in its entirety. The supporting cast are solid and benefit from the likes of experienced and recognisable European actor Topic (Snatch, Kingdom of Heaven), veteran Paterson and burgeoning British star Alexander, more recognisable to ‘Game of Thrones’ fans as the lead ‘child of the forest’—but this is really the Óscar Jaenada show, with the Spanish thespian bringing plenty of humanity and inner conflict to the role, and keeping the audience on side throughout . . . dreading what might happen to Alberto but unable to keep our eyes from the screen.

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