The Room Next Door

Pedro Almodóvar’s first feature-length film in English will probably grab your attention in at least three ways. Firstly, it’s a Pedro Almodóvar film — if you are familiar with the eccentric and provocative Spanish phenomenon-of-a-director (and given the fact that I am currently doing an entire module on Almodóvar for my degree, I won’t even call that an exaggeration) then you might have some expectations coming in; vibrantly-coloured interiors, female leads going above-and-beyond to own their own lives, hard topics and outlandish ‘this-could-only-happen-in-a-movie’ plots. For the most part these expectations are all met, but his latest film is a lot more grounded in reality (at least comparatively, it’s still often quite surreal and strange). Broaching topics more complicated than most filmmakers could handle, Almodóvar does so in a surprisingly light and funny way. Secondly, this film stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, two of the best actors working today, need I say more on that? Thirdly, it’s title is so neatly enigmatic I reckon it’s enough to draw someone with no interest even in Almodóvar or Swinton/Moore into this film. If none of that convinces you, it won the Golden Lion at Venice, and also I just think it’s a very good film. I guarantee it will leave you pondering a lot without asking for a lot in return, it’s thought-provoking and yet so airy that it is almost soothing.

Daniel Kallin