The Room Next Door

No sooner has Ingrid (Julianne Moore) published a book about her inability to comprehend death, than she learns an old friend of hers is in the hospital with stage-three cancer. Reconnected through this tragic news, Martha (Tilda Swinton) and her grow closer than ever, as they reminisce about late work nights and shared lovers. Eventually, Martha even dares to ask her former colleague to join her on a last trip and stay in the room next to hers until the final moments.

Spanish cult filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has gradually worked his way towards his first English-language feature through his recent short films (The Human Voice, also starring Swinton). Perhaps it is this novelty or more likely, it was not his intent in the first place to fall in line with what American cinema considers realism, but the dialogue-heavy first scenes feel stilted and trite. It is especially unusual to see Julianne Moore so restrained in emotive expression, however the feature picks up once it feels comfortable in having established the relationships and moves on towards weightier pastures.

Framed within the context of the world they live in, the characters speak of issues that concern them, that initially may deter audiences as their connection to the plot is not immediately obvious but rather tie into the grander scheme of mortality looming over the entire film.

Almodóvar’s signature love for colour and vibrant palettes adds a fresh and immensely moving spin to this motif, seeing as death is typically treated synonymous with ultimate darkness in Western depictions. Rather than bleak images of winter and barrenness, The Room Next Door, evokes a feeling of autumn, of leaves shining their brightest and displaying most riches as they fall from the trees. Incisive frames sear themselves into the viewer’s retinas, haunting close-ups of the actors faces which function as canvas for the director’s paints.

In his adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s What Are You Going Through, Almodóvar meditates not only on evanescence but on how much of our lives and of our passing is in our control. Its most important feature is the way it highlights the value of companionship through Swinton and Moore’s lingering glances and touches.

Selina Sondermann

Read more reviews from our Venice Film Festival coverage here.

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Watch the clip for The Room Next Door here: