Almodovar’s first English-language feature doesn’t quite strike gold, but Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore give riveting performances as two friends who haven’t seen each other for a long time, exploring themes of mortality and morality.

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When two friends from the bygone days of youth meet again, expect something warped to emerge in Pedro Almodovar’s latest film, his first English-language feature. 

Winning the Venice Golden Lion, perhaps a tad undeservedly, The Room Next Door doesn’t quite strike the gold standard that the iconic Spanish auteur often guarantees, though this ‘detour’ to the US will still interest diehard fans. 

Putting Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore in the same space for much of the film is a godsend and we can expect riveting performances from them as Martha and Ingrid respectively. 

When Ingrid learns that Martha has a terminal illness, a journey ensues for both to make the most of lost time for the last time. 

While Almodovar is known for his melodrama, The Room Next Door isn’t the all-out weepie that the director was careful not to succumb to; instead, it is a work that explores the lengths one might go in contemplating the close-knit relationship between mortality and morality. 

“It’s daytime and you are alive.”

It is no secret that the film tackles the topic of euthanasia, which plays out as a narrative dilemma begging for some kind of definitive resolution. 

The freedom to decide when and how I wish to end my life is very important to me, hence I hardly have any ethical resistance to euthanasia, though I understand it remains controversial, even criminal, in most countries. 

Almodovar doesn’t really go deep into the core of the thematic tension, though Swinton and Moore ably give us something to think about. 

Still, the niggling feeling of a wasted opportunity doesn’t quite abide—I’m not sure what it is, but it could be the stiffness of the English script.  It is ironic then that a Spanish remake (by Almodovar?) is what we actually need. 

Grade: B

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