Release Date – 25th October 2024, Cert – 12, Run-time – 1 hour 47 minutes, Director – Pedro Almodóvar
Old friends Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) reunite after years apart to spend time in a quiet, rented home, at the end of which cancer-patient Martha intends to commit suicide through the use of a euthanasia pill.
Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language feature debut doesn’t angle itself as a film about a fearful or sad build-up to death, instead it views the approaching inevitable, as seen through the eyes of former war reporter and cancer patient Martha (Tilda Swinton), as a prolonged, isolated trudge with everyone around you expecting the worst any day. “After all the preparing to face the end survival feels almost like a disappointment” she tells old friend Ingrid (Julianne Moore) after being reunited for the first time in years.
The first conversation between the pair is warm, tinted with empathy from Ingrid as she sees her friend lying in a private hospital room. Wishing to leave these confines Martha asks Ingrid to accompany her for a short stay in a quiet, rented house in the woods. However, at the end of this time Martha intends to take her life via a euthanasia pill, her request being that Ingrid is in the room next door when she does this. If the police enquire, everything is in place and set up for her to deny that she knew anything about this.
There’s a consistent sense of melodrama flowing through the conversations between the pair. The performances themselves are strong, particularly Swinton who delivers the standout turn with an occasionally creeping sense of calm melancholy, but there’s an almost forced nature to certain moments. Much of this comes from Alberto Iglesias’ score which while great feels unnecessary in a number of scenes, almost forcing the viewer into feeling, as with the use of his Oscar-nominated score for Parallel Mothers. It pushes a somewhat disjointed feeling in certain moments, particularly flashback sequences early on in the film which feel detached from the rest of the proceedings, failing to hit the emotional beats they appear to be trying to hit.
As a whole the film never quite manages to push the emotional weight it wishes to due to the strong melodramatic style that it carries. There’s a connection to be found with Ingrid as her understanding and struggle with her friend’s choice conflict throughout, even as the pair simply enjoy sitting down and watching films together one evening. Moore and Swinton effectively capture the fond, yet somewhat distant after so much time apart, connection between the central characters, filling in the gaps in their relationship with stories and increasingly bittersweet memories of the past.
There’s certainly an interesting mixture and perspective within this particular Almodóvar feature. Sometimes suffering from its melodrama it thankfully doesn’t fall into an intense dreariness, as both Martha and Ingrid seem to want to avoid themselves. There’s a core of emotion and yet one that comes with understanding and a lighter touch thanks to the time we see the friends spend together, and indeed Almodóvar’s own gentle influence on the tone of the proceedings. While occasionally this might lead to more dramatic moments diving deeper into the personal lives and pasts of the characters feeling somewhat forceful and leaning too much into the emotional aspects, there’s still an overall likable, if rough around the edges, English-language feature debut here.
While it falls into forceful melodrama, the quieter aspects of the relationship and understanding between Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton’s finely performed characters helps lift up The Room Next Door as its less intense angle on approaching death.
Just A Little Bit Random 