Puzzling from the first moment, the yet spectacular and sometimes dull movie “Corner Office” is a good movie to watch, even with kids. And interpretations could vary widely, purely based on your background. And as for me, with my psychoanalytic background, I'll give my interpretation.
The Symbolism of "The Room"
Based on the context of the movie, it's an escape room for the main character— an office worker named Orson. He discovered it on his way to the bathroom during his 5 min break. The character only allowed himself to take 5 min breaks after 55 min of productive work. And after working hard, he allowed himself to get a pause, and a room serves here as an ideal opportunity to get much-needed rest — in a quiet place, forgotten by everyone and perfectly matching the vibe of Orson The Discoverer.
The problems started to appear when everyone noticed the odd behaviour of the Orson. Namely, while he imagines being inside "The Room", others see as he stands motionless in front of the wall. It freaks people out, so they complain, and he is no longer allowed to go to "The Room".
"The Room" might be interpreted as the "safe space" inside Orson's mind. Such a safe space exists in everybody's head to some extent. And in cases when there is no safe space in one's Psyche, for example, in case of trauma, we psychologists work on recreating such a space, reconstructing it. And even an exercise called "Safe Space" might be used.
The real deal with Orson's "The Room" is his physical catatonia, which appears whenever he enters it. It looked like a psychotic state of mind, either medically infused or caused by the psychotic illness. It seems more like a physical (substance-induced) state even more when Orson experiences withdrawal symptoms after the boss forbids him from entering "The Room".
"The Room" seems to be the continuation of the character's personality, which perfectly resembles the old-fashioned design of the place. In other words, it was created for him and so by him. Such a room should exist for personal use only, but in a psychotic state, boundaries between reality and hallucinations are vague; they are not noticeable for the one living with psychotic reality. And so, this reality gradually travels to the outer world, as it did with Orson while trying to convince others that "The Room" exists.
Location of "The Room"
It seems interesting that It is located between the elevator and the restroom. Both resemble a tube, or activity, linked to the tube-like organ, namely the intestines. Elevators bring people to and from the workplace. It's a place where people flow back and forth. In the toilet, the same thing happens inside the body. And imagine someone who is not particularly enthusiastic about the job they do. In that case, the elevator brings frustration once the workplace is entered and relief when left, similarly to the toilet. One enters it with the desire to be relieved. "The Room" plays the same role for the main character — it's where stress and frustration can be relieved. It's a coping strategy which grew to become unhealthy. It's a symptom of one's intolerable feelings, which is so dangerous that only a complete dissociation can rescue a struggling mind.
The Ending
Orson decided to hide away from the unbearable reality in a complete state of dissociation— catatonia. To him, it's better to choose than attempt to do anything about his situation. He locked himself away inside "The Room" he created himself, which turned out to be not a rescue, but rather a reaper.
Associations
While watching the movie, I constantly returned to the book Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by Stephen Grosz. It's a great book that is easy for a non-specialist to understand. And in one of the patient's stories, Grosz describes an older man who would constantly tell the therapist about his vacation home in France. He was in detail describing the house and the design of the interiors. And at the end of one session, he said to the therapist something which, to my best recollection, sounded like: "I hope you know that I don't have a house in France".
I think we all need to have "The Room" or "The House in France". But the boundaries between such a place and reality should be kept clear.