NYFF Film Review: Pedro Almodóvar Turns to English for the Slight Yet Thought Provoking ‘The Room Next Door’

Over the years, Pedro Almodóvar has developed about as unimpeachable a reputation, filmmaker-wise, as it gets. So, when he tries something new, as with The Room Next Door, you go in expecting him to be up to the challenge. Here, he’s attempting his first movie fully in the English language. While it’s occasionally a little less elegant than his best work, this is a well done picture, with some terrific acting at its core. Playing as the Centerpiece at the 62nd New York Film Festival, it’s destined to please fans of the filmmaker.

The Room Next Door is a very solid film, even if I found that some of the storyteller’s poetry is lost when having it done in English. It’s a small complaint, but largely found in how much more I think I’d have enjoyed this in his native tongue. At the same time, that would likely have robbed us of these two central performances, which are pitch-perfect.

Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were once close friends in their younger days, working together at the same magazine. While Ingrid went on to become a novelist, Martha became a war reporter, which led to them becoming somewhat estranged. Years later, after having fallen out of touch, their lives intersect once again. While doing a book signing, Ingrid finds out from a mutual friend that Martha is in the hospital. Going to visit, they fall back into their old friendship, made more profound by the fact that Martha has terminal cancer. An experimental treatment has given her time, but she’s fed up and wants to go out on her terms, leading to ask a very unique favor of Ingrid.

Martha has gotten her hands on a euthanasia pill and wants Ingrid to be in the room next door when she eventually takes it. Needing time to process, Ingrid discusses it with her friend Damian Cunningham (John Turturro), who used to be Martha’s ex. When she makes her decision, it launches them to a new phase of their friendship, sequestered away upstate, wondering what will ultimately happen.

Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton are both excellent, which is essential since much of the movie is just them having conversations. Moore plays a warm-hearted woman with a fear of death thrust into a situation where it’s inevitable, and you always know what’s on her mind. It’s a quietly moving turn. Swinton does a great job putting on a brave face, even as she expertly depicts the pain within her. Their friendly chemistry is wonderful to witness. John Turturro makes the most of his handful of scenes, especially opposite Moore. The small supporting cast also includes Alessandro Nivola, but it’s Moore and Swinton taking up most of the space.

Adapting a Sigrid Nunez novel, Pedro Almodóvar utilizes it for his English-language debut. Visually, it looks just like your standard issue Almodóvar film, just set in New York. Script-wise, the movie is sometimes a step down, just because the dialogue feels a little less poetic and more on the nose. Moore and Swinton help out a lot, but there is a mild sense that Almodóvar is still getting comfortable with working in this language. So, I’m very curious to see if he returns to it. If he does, that flick will certainly have my full attention.

The Room Next Door is minor key Almodóvar, but that still ain’t half bad. Armed with Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, he continues to craft movies that linger in your mind after they end. The NYFF Centerpiece, the film may or may not end up as an Oscar player, but it serves as more evidence that Almodóvar is one of the greats.

SCORE: ★★★