'Room 104' Opens Doors to Diverse Worlds
HBO's upcoming anthology series hopes to contain its diverse narratives into a single setting. But the boundaries of imagination are yet to be tested when "Room 104" finally premieres this month.
Each week, a new occupant will be shown renting a single room in an average American motel. This particular room, numbered 104, will bear witness to the dire realities, desperate fantasies, and even the deepest fears of its many different occupants. The storylines are only limited by the perspectives and imaginations of its diverse character lineup.
Some of the occupants of the mysterious Room 104 will include characters played James Van Der Beek, Amy Landecker, Orlando Jones, and Karan Soni.
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The official trailer for the series opens up with a couple of Mormon boys seemingly practicing abstinence from worldly desires like a little caffeine in their blood. But when one confesses to having drunk coffee and subsequently refuses to pray for forgiveness, a sign is given to them when the television magically flicks on to what seems to be a pornographic channel.
Right then and there, it is apparent that Room 104 is no ordinary place. Other stories teased by the trailer include that of a woman, played by Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris, who hopes to transcend to another reality with help from a cult priest played by Jones. There will also be an episode that will reconnect a housekeeper, played by Dendrie Taylor, with her younger self, played by Sarah Hay.
The show is the product of Mark and Jay Duplass' desire to explore the middle ground between the two extremes that are usually portrayed on the screen. Instead of using the usual settings of seedy hotels and high-class international resorts, the Duplass brothers chose to depict the goings-on in a corporate chain hotel situated near the airport.
Through the series, Mark and Jay hope to present "the funny, weird, sad, scary, absurd thing" that have made these chain hotels fascinating through the years.
"Room 104" premieres on Friday, July 28, at 11:30 p.m. EDT on HBO.
