THE ROOM NEXT DOOR: ALMODÓVAR’S AMBITIOUS, YET UNEVEN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE DEBUT
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ (6/10)
Pedro Almodóvar’s first full-length English-language film, The Room Next Door (La habitación de al lado), is a visually striking but emotionally uneven adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s novel What Are You Going Through. While the film features breathtaking performances by Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, it ultimately struggles to deliver the narrative depth and poignant reflection one expects from a filmmaker of Almodóvar’s caliber.
The story centers on the complex bond between two women—Swinton’s character, a woman facing terminal illness, and Moore’s, her devoted friend—against the backdrop of a life-altering decision involving euthanasia. Despite the weight of this theme, the film fails to truly provoke or challenge its audience. Almodóvar’s handling of the subject feels restrained, even clinical, and while moments of tenderness flicker throughout, the overall narrative lacks the raw emotion and complexity that are hallmarks of his previous masterpieces.
A particularly striking moment occurs when one of the characters quotes James Joyce: “... the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.” This line, from The Dead, could have been a touchstone for the film’s exploration of mortality and interconnectedness. Yet, the poignancy of this literary allusion only underscores the film’s inability to fully engage with the themes it seeks to explore. Like the snow in Joyce’s prose, the film’s emotional weight falls lightly—too lightly—to leave a lasting impact.
The dialogue throughout the film feels curiously detached. Almodóvar, known for his sharp and often poetic writing, seems to falter here; the conversations come across as rehearsed rather than organic, preventing the story from achieving its full emotional potential.
What The Room Next Door does have, however, is its two extraordinary leads. Tilda Swinton delivers a performance of haunting subtlety, carrying the weight of her character’s impending end with grace and quiet intensity. Julianne Moore, meanwhile, is as radiant as ever, bringing warmth and depth to her role as a friend navigating the dual burden of love and loss. Together, they create moments of genuine connection that provide the film with its most memorable scenes.
Supporting performances by John Turturro and Alessandro Nivola, while competent, are largely overshadowed by the two leads and suffer from underdeveloped character arcs.
Visually, Almodóvar’s aesthetic remains intact, with a more subdued color palette that complements the film’s somber tone. However, the lush visuals feel like a mismatch for the script’s lack of emotional resonance.
The Room Next Door is an ambitious but flawed experiment. While it offers glimpses of brilliance—largely thanks to Swinton and Moore—it lacks the narrative cohesion and emotional intensity that made Almodóvar’s earlier works so compelling. The quote from Joyce encapsulates the film’s fleeting beauty but also its inability to fully grapple with the profound themes it introduces.
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