The Room Next Door, 2024.
Written and Directed by Pedro Almodóvar.
Starring Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Alessandro Nivola, Juan Diego Botto, Raúl Arévalo, Victoria Luengo, Alex Høgh Andersen, Esther-Rose McGregor, Alvise Rigo, Melina Matthews, Sarah Demeestere, Anh Duong, Antonios Antoniadis, Francesc Tort, and Paolo Luka Noé.
SYNOPSIS:
Ingrid and Martha were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.
In Pedro Almodóvar’s first English language feature, The Room Next Door, Julianne Moore’s Ingrid is afraid of death, so much so that the author’s latest book is about not being able to accept that it’s real. Tilda Swinton’s Martha has cervical cancer, undergoes chemotherapy, has a life expectancy of less than a year, doesn’t feel compelled to keep fighting and live much longer, and is ready to die, having gone as far as ordering a euthanasia pill off the dark web. The only problem is that she would like someone in the titular room next door of the vacation home where she plans to end her life inside on her terms. So far, she only has rejections, but that changes once Ingrid, a longtime estranged friend, gets word of her illness and visits the hospital. She’s terrified of death but bighearted enough to help out a friend.
What follows is not only a recollection of Martha’s life (complete with a few unnecessary flashbacks) and a justification for why she wants to do this (she has lived a full life, having accomplished much as a war correspondent, which is also left her with no real relationship with her daughter), but passionately makes a case for people to be allowed to access and privilege to die with dignity. As Martha puts it, she can’t die from cancer if she gives herself a dignified death before then. There is also some thoughtful commentary on how her profession has made her numb to the concept of death. Naturally, that’s a tough pill for some sectors of society, especially a conservative character played by Alessandro Nivola.
It’s no surprise that Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton beautifully handle this material with the delicacy it deserves balanced with the entertaining Pedro Almodovar melodrama (complete with an over-the-top, soap opera-ish but moving score), coming from extremely polar opposite perspectives on death. Surprisingly, there isn’t much arguing or banter about Martha’s choice. Instead, it’s more about the preparation, final thoughts, and last wishes.
Sexual intimacy frequently comes up as having been one of the greatest distractions from death when doing fieldwork as a war correspondent, also touching on a grander idea that it takes away fear. With that in mind, John Turturro plays Damien, a man married to Ingrid but has previously had a relationship with Martha. He is also a passionate romantic but also loudly cynical about the current state of the world (climate change and more, also delivering a fascinating line about not having much interest in the arts lately following the pandemic), venting about his son set to bring a third child into it. It sets up yet another ponderous juxtaposition for this film: bringing life into a damaged world and ending it on one’s terms, with Ingrid listening to this rant when her friend is set to take that euthanasia pill any day.
Without giving much away, the debates and drama slowly reveal themselves to be about optimism and cynicism, the choice to make the most of a dying world or, once again, to end the life of a failing body. Pedro Almodóvar also takes a playful swing in the third act that beautifully drives home some of these points further. Once past the rocky first act filled with far too much exposition and flashbacks, The Room Next Door is a deep and richly layered work primarily because it’s concerned with so much beyond justifying Martha’s decision to the audience, but relatively larger, existential questions regarding life. It turns out Pedro Almodóvar excels no matter what language and actors he is working with.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
