From Jeff Nelson

Pedro Almodóvar has an undeniable grasp of capturing drama through his singular vision. Whether it’s lined with camp or derived from soap opera roots, he never dilutes his peculiar style. The Room Next Door marks his English-language feature film debut, but the linguistic change doesn’t impact the vision we’ve come to expect from the storyteller. However, even a below-average outing for this filmmaker is still an engaging effort.

Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were once close friends when they worked at the same magazine. After years apart, they re-establish a connection when the cancer-stricken Martha decides to pursue euthanasia and she asks Ingrid to keep her company in her final days.

Death is a primordial fear that haunts humanity across all cultures. Ingrid is an accomplished writer, who wrote a book based on these feelings. She’s forced to confront it when she reconnects with war journalist Martha, who lives a rather lonely existence with the memories of an estranged daughter. The sacred connection between mother and daughter runs deep, although it forgoes warmth in exchange for an imperfect relationship filled with resentment, pain, and regret.

The two friends briefly catch up, reminiscing about their experiences with love, sex, death, and the meaning and purpose of life. Martha’s confrontation with mortality coerces her to reflect on the past, while Ingrid painfully looks to the future. Their time-displaced musings linger in the present, representing a yin and yang that challenges their perspectives. A side story involving a shared lover, Damian (John Turturro), offers a more superficial perspective on the two women and a message on climate change that feels tacked on and unexplored.

Almodóvar takes a firm stance on euthanasia in his adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s novel. Many of Martha’s closest friends don’t support her decision to end her suffering from the agonizing cancer treatments that aren’t working. She reserves autonomy over her life, refusing to allow doctors and the police to determine her fate. She asks Ingrid to stay in the room next door until she decides to take the illegal substance to put an end to her pain. Martha compares cancer to the war zones she survived, seeing Ingrid as her ally and euthanasia as a victory over the disease.

Moore and Swinton are a match made in heaven. Their humanity beams through the occasionally stilted dialogue, filling the characters themselves with sincerity. Ingrid and Martha’s ponderings are stimulating on the surface, although the detailed performances beg for deeper material to sink their teeth into. 

The Room Next Door candidly speaks to love and death in many forms, although its scattershot emotions don’t always connect as they should. Moore and Swinton’s brilliant performances elevate a script that feels more suited to the stage than the silver screen. Even so, the storytelling has a delicate touch that makes it worth seeking out.

Rating: 3/5

The Room Next Door hits theaters on December 20th, 2024 in Los Angeles and New York before expanding to select cities on January 10th, 2025, and nationwide on January 17th, 2025.

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