Hard to believe, but “The Room Next Door” is the first film to win Pedro Almodóvar a top prize at a major film festival. It happened last month, at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the prestigious Golden Lion. Here’s the new trailer.
I’ve seen the film, and it’s a real beauty — Almodóvar’s melancholic meditation on death. Don’t listen to the naysayers who claim Almodóvar’s win at Venice, for his first English feature, was more of a career achievement award. Nonsense. Unlike Almodóvar’s other works, “The Room Next Door” isn’t filled with twists and turns; rather, it’s a simple story, and beautifully told at that.
The film tackles Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton), close friends in their youth, who once worked together at the same magazine. After years of being out of touch, they meet again, as Martha is dying of cancer, and decide to go on one final trip. I won’t mention the rest, it’s better to go into this film cold turkey.
“The Room” Next Door” is visually sumptuous, aided by Eduard Grau’s colorful photography, with a pair of great performances from Moore and Swinton. Sony Pictures Classics is in charge of U.S. distribution. A December 20 release date has been set up for the film