THE ROOM NEXT DOOR (2025) – Review

This weekend sees the wider release of a film that would probably be referred to as “Oscar bait” since it stars two actresses who have that “golden guy” and it’s directed by a beloved and celebrated filmmaker. With the latter, this shares a similar distinction with another lauded “end of the year” work, EMILIA PEREZ. No, this isn’t a musical. The common thread is that PEREZ was made by a French director who is telling a story in the Spanish language, while this new release has a Spanish helmer working completely in English for the very first time after nearly half of a century in cinema. And though it’s set in today’s modern world it harkens back to the movies of Hollywood’s Golden Age”. It becomes clear to cinephiles the moment they enter (if it’s ajar…a big plot point) THE ROOM NEXT DOOR.

The opening scene takes us to a swanky book store in Manhattan where the popular author of several works of “historical fiction” signs copies of her latest. Ingrid (Julianne Moore) is surprised when an old friend steps out from the long line of fans. Stella (Sarah Demeestere) informs her that a mutual acquaintance is battling cancer in a nearby hospital. The news startles Ingrid, as she’s been out of touch with this friend for a while. A reunion is overdue, so she makes an impromptu call at the hospital room of former war correspondent Martha (Tilda Swinton). The duo quickly gets “up to speed”, with Martha confiding that she’s estranged from her adult daughter. Ingrid is surprised by her story of a teenage pregnancy sired by a first love who was emotionally scared by combat. They never married. The daughter, Michelle, was resentful of Martha’s “globe-trotting” as she wrote of various international conflicts. The hospital visits soon extended to Martha’s Central Park-view apartment, during the “off time” between medical stays. During a visit after a new promising experimental treatment, a frustrated Martha tells Ingrid that it didn’t work. She has a few months left, at best, before her mind and body begin to degenerate and finally shut down. A bit later Martha delivers another bombshell. She’s purchased a “euthanasia pill” via the “dark web”, but doesn’t wish to use it in her NYC home. Martha is hoping to rent a lush cottage in upstate New York that she’ll share with Ingrid. Martha explains that when she expires, she wants to be discovered by someone she loves who is in “the room next door”. Ingrid is filled with anxiety and sadness but also wants to be supportive of her friend. Does she have the strength to join Martha as their rekindled relationship concludes? And could she somehow be legally liable for assisting in Martha’s “good death”?

There’s such a warm easy rapport between the two lead actresses that it feels as though they’ve been teamed many times over their impressive screen careers. Because Ingrid has several encounters aside from her time with Martha, Moore would have the lead role as our “pathway” into Martha’s last journey. It’s through her expert use of body language and facial expressions (her eyes are truly that window) that Moore shows us the heartbreak and empathy of this old friend whose renewed bond will be severed. She pledges her help even though Moore’s quivering voice conveys Ingrid’s conflicted feelings. Fortunately, her main scene partner is equally compelling, though with different challenges in her character. Swinton, as Ingrid, must also express many moods, while also reflecting the physical changes her body must endure as the disease takes its toll. Martha has a calm acceptance, often at odds with her frustrations about her diminished stamina and “brain fog”. And though she rejects pity, Swinton’s joy while confiding in a friend thought to be loss shows lets us see that there’s still a yearning for human connections while exiting her life. This isn’t a two-person tale as Ingrid also shares scenes with a pair of superb supporting actors. John Turturro is quite good as Damian, a social commentator on a lecture tour, who was a past lover to both women, though with no “overlap” for a romantic “triangle”. And, an extra dramatic “punch’ is provided by Alessandro Nivola who is quite intimidating and fierce as a dogged policeman encountered by Ingrid.

That acclaimed Spanish filmmaker I alluded to earlier is, of course, the talented Pedro Almodovar, who directed his screenplay adaptation of the novel “What Are You Going Through” by Sigrid Nunez. This caps an impressive roster of films that have explored female relationships with this intimate tale of love and loss. With its smooth tranquil pacing, lingering close-ups, and serene nearly melodramatic flashbacks, Almodovar appears to be paying tribute to the classic “women’s pictures” so prolific during the early years of sound movies (“pre-code” and a bit beyond). I kept thinking that the main plot could have paired Bette Davis with Miriam Hopkins on the Warner backlot (the new score from Alberto Iglesias takes inspiration from Steiner and Herriman). But there are also elements of the glossy technicolor romances of Douglas Sirk, especially with the gorgeous rental estate in the woods, which looks to have been lifted straight from “Architectural Digest” magazine (perhaps Lazlo Toth of THE BRUTALIST designed its multi-level wonders). All the stylistic choices (the color red is prominent, from the shared car to the vibrant lipstick shades) never detract from the story’s main focus on friendship and facing (that dreaded “D” word) death. Certainly, this may re-spark debates about the “quality of life”, but most folks on both sides would agree that the last days would be most pleasant with a caring person in THE ROOM NEXT DOOR.

3.5 Out of 4

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR opens in selected theatres on Friday, January 17, 2025