Poor Pedro Almodovar. He lives out his feelings in his work. The Room Next Door shows us he’s really worried about death, and how he’s going to deal with it. Instead of retreating into himself or loved ones like I would do, Pedro decides to have Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton act out his processing. Hey, if I had two actors like that at my disposal, I probably would have done the same.
At her latest book signing, Ingrid (Julianne Moore) is told by a fan and friend (Sarah Demeestere) that her old acquaintance Martha (Tilda Swinton) isn’t feeling well. Ingrid goes to visit Martha, only to find out Martha’s got cancer. With few outlets left in her life, Martha reconnects with her old friend, both hoping to get as much out of what could be the last few months of Martha’s life.
As death gets closer, it’s very likely the feelings we will encounter are so intense that it’s all to much to bear. It appears our good director Pedro has figured this out too, and like any human, he sidesteps them with other mechanisms. The Room Next Door is so weird: it’s American Actors, inside what feels like a European Drama, with a script that feels Google Translated from Spanish to English. Apparently poor Pedro’s feelings were so frightening to him, he had to go 3 levels removed from reality to even try to negotiate how he feels. And yet, somehow, that Almodovar magic arises from it. The dialogue is so stilted and untethered from normal reality that I found myself confusingly paying attention harder, meaning I was listening harder to understand the strange Ingrid/Martha dialogue, where we’d then drop a couple sentences of pure clarity dealing with those serious real feelings around imminent death. It’s a tricky balancing act that Pedro mostly keeps, falling off a few times but always brushing himself off and getting right back into it.
That’s made a lot easier for him when Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton and there to usher your story for you. Swinton looks otherworldly like she can, but inside that is a real human heart; this is one of the more empathetic grounded performances I’ve seen from her in a while, perfectly suiting what Martha needs to be for the story to work. And on the other side is the great Julianne Moore to play off of. She could have become mired in the “looks concerned” part, but Moore makes it her own, also remembering that Ingrid is a novelist, and delivers a few lines that really hit me hard because of how earnest she also is here. At least Almodovar let’s her flirt with the hunkiest fitness instructor in the New York suburbs that I’ve ever seen.
I guess the lesson here is process the tough stuff in whatever way works for you. If you’re struggling with some near death feelings approaching quickly, maybe The Room Next Door will provide some insight for you, while also distracting you at the same time to help you deal with your emotional distress. Don’t worry Pedro. I volunteer to be in the room next door, if you need it. We all love ya sir!