TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEW! Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door follows two friends, Ingrid (Julianne Moore), a successful novelist, and Martha (Tilda Swinton), a war journalist, who have recently reconnected over tragedy. Martha, who is facing terminal cancer, makes an impossible request of her friend: she asks Ingrid to accompany her to a cottage in upstate New York, where she plans to take her own life via a euthanasia pill obtained over the dark web.
The two lead performances are phenomenal, as to be expected from Moore and Swinton, and the movie is undeniably beautiful in keeping with Almodóvar’s distinct style. However, everything else unfortunately falls flat. The attempts at political resonance feel somewhat lacking. There are long monologues of characters musing over philosophy, literature, and art, but none of it feels purposeful. In fact, the picture seems to be at an impasse where it is both desperately trying to prove its cleverness and, at the same time, is almost loathsome of the same creative class in which its characters are a part.
“…Martha, who is facing terminal cancer, makes an impossible request of her friend…”
The drama does play brilliantly into its black comedy elements. Martha is excited about this trip and has found peace with death. This kind of gleeful melancholy, mixed with Ingrid’s unease, produces several darkly hilarious moments. Additionally, Martha and Ingrid are incredibly likable characters when they aren’t droning on about Wagner and T.S. Eliot. They are friends who, despite drifting in and out of each other’s lives, genuinely care for one another. This intimate sketch of female friendship is more compelling than the large, abstract stance on death and dying — one which is so obscure that I cannot actually summarize it in this review.
The Room Next Door lacks the transgressive quality that initially endeared me to Almodóvar’s films, especially his early work. Perhaps it is a reflection of the director’s style and a renewed interest in the philosophy of death and dying as he gets older. While it’s still worth a watch, the movie leaves me wanting more, and not necessarily in a good way.
The Room Next Door screened at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
"…leaves me wanting more, and not necessarily in a good way."
