The Room Next Door
One of the things I love about Pedro Almodovar’s work is its unpredictability. Even if you feel the narrative moving in a particular direction, there’s always some wrinkles in it that throw us off guard, be it from a story or emotional angle. In his first English-language feature film, Almodovar keeps those ideas going, but with a subtlety that is more akin to his later work (like “Pain & Glory” and “Parallel Mothers”) than earlier triumphs like “All About My Mother” and “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.” “The Room Next Door” has a lot of hallmarks of the great director’s earlier films, but it’s the ways he bends away from his tendencies is what makes this a fascinating entry in his filmography.
As with many of his films, “The Room Next Door” centers on women whom are sorting through the challenges of their lives. We begin by meeting Ingrid (Julianne Moore), who is at a book signing in New York when she spots a friend in line. She then learns that another friend, Martha (Tilda Swinton), has terminal cancer, and she decides to reconnect. The reconnection is beneficial for both women, so much so for Martha that she asks Ingrid to be there with her when she ends her life; she does not want to go through the pain of cancer until the end. While Ingrid is anxious about death, she wants to be there for her friend. And so their shared moments together begin.
To a certain extent, one would not be surprised if Almodovar laced this dramatic narrative, adapted from the novel, What Are You Going Through, by Sigrid Nunez, with some of his signature dark humor and melodrama, but the truth is, Almodovar is simply interested in how Ingrid and Martha interact with one another at this critical time. His film is about accepting the things we cannot change, challenging ourselves when an opportunity arises, and simply having people around us at a moment when we need them the most. His humanity and empathy is front and center- as it always is- and he gets terrific performances from Moore and Swinton, two of the most distinctly unique actresses in modern film, and the nuance, peculiarity and depth they both bring to their strongest work. We also get strong supporting performances by John Turturro as Ingrid’s partner- who also knows Martha- and Alessandro Nivola as an officer trying to get to the truth after Martha is gone. All of this is scored by Alberto Iglesias in another standout soundtrack for Almodovar. There’s simply a magic to the Spanish filmmaker’s work that hooks me in, and “The Room Next Door”- though more muted than we anticipate- was no exception in that.
